Maya's POV :
I dragged myself back up the ridge, Elena’s words still burning in my chest like poison.
The children. Seventeen of them. For me.
Not a bargain. Not even a choice. Just a death sentence dressed up to look like one.
“Maya.”
Kai was there before I’d even stopped moving. His hands closed around my face, eyes wild, searching like he thought he could fix me just by looking hard enough. His panic bled through our bond no matter how much I tried to shove mine down.
“She knows,” I whispered. My voice cracked. “About the distributed ritual. She’s been waiting for it.”
The camp froze. Victoria stiffened, eyes sharp as glass. Graves swore under his breath. Sarah looked like she was about to be sick.
“How much?” Danny asked.
“All of it. Her circle doesn’t just channel energy—it t
