BOUND BY MIDNIGHT BLOOD

Chapter 18: The Full Moon Approaches

Riven's POV

The forty eight hours ran out at dawn, and my father wasted no time proving he meant every word of that message.

He cut off my access to the family accounts first. Then my room in the family wing, locked overnight, my belongings already moved into storage by the time I noticed, boxed up and shoved out of sight like I had never lived there at all. By midmorning, two of his personal guards were following me across the academy grounds, close enough to remind me exactly how little freedom I had left, watching my every move like I might bolt if given half a chance.

I found Lyra near the edge of the training field an hour later, away from prying eyes, having finally shaken the guards long enough to slip through a gap in the hedges I had discovered years ago as a first year student, back when none of this had felt real yet. My chest was tight with everything I still had not told her, everything I had been carrying alone for days now.

"You look terrible," she said, studying my face, her eyes sharp despite the exhaustion clearly written across her own features.

"Family drama." I forced a grin that felt thin even to me, the kind I usually could pull off without any effort at all. "Nothing you need to worry about."

"Riven." Her voice softened, sharper than her usual teasing, cutting straight through the deflection like she always did. "Tell me the truth for once. I am tired of everyone around me hiding pieces of themselves."

I sat down heavily on the low stone wall beside her, my usual charm draining out of me faster than I could hold onto it. "A few nights ago I found a Council transmitter hidden near the old tower. My father's, set up to coordinate with the operatives hunting you. I destroyed it before it could send its next signal."

Her eyes widened. "You never told me that."

"I did not want you carrying one more thing to worry about." I let out a breath. "My father knows it was me. He knows I chose you over him. He is punishing me for it, slowly, methodically, the way he punishes everyone who disappoints him. It is what he does best."

"Riven, I am sorry."

"Do not be." I looked at her directly, needing her to understand this part clearly, needing her to see it in my face instead of just hearing the words. "I would do it again. I have spent my whole life trying to be exactly what my father wanted, chasing his approval like it actually meant something, and it took watching him hurt you to finally see how much of that was poison. I do not regret choosing you. I only regret not choosing sooner, before it cost either of us this much."

Her hand found mine on the stone wall, warm and steady, and for one quiet moment neither of us said anything at all. It felt fragile and real at once, the kind of moment I had wanted with her for weeks without ever quite admitting it to myself, even alone in my own head.

Soren found us there minutes later, his expression grim enough that I knew immediately the news would not be good. Blood still marked the edge of his nose, faint but fresh, another cost paid for whatever he had seen.

"The vision is clearer now," he said, not bothering with any greeting. "The full moon tonight. That is when the Council strikes. Openly. All at once."

Lyra's hand tightened around mine, her grip going tense. "Tonight?"

"Tonight." Soren's pale eyes moved between us, exhaustion etched into every line of his face. "I do not know how it ends. I only know it starts the moment the moon clears the ridge, and I could not see far enough past that point to tell you anything more."

Kael arrived a moment later, drawn by whatever instinct always seemed to pull him toward Lyra whenever real danger was close, his footsteps fast against the packed dirt. He took in the three of us together, his jaw tight, and for the first time since I had known him, he did not look at me like a rival standing in his way. Something about the situation had shifted us all past the point of old rivalries.

"We need a plan," Kael said, his voice steady despite the tension rolling off him. "All of us. Together."

It was strange, standing there with the two people I had spent most of this year competing against, watching everything click into place instead of falling apart the way it usually did whenever the three of us shared a room. Soren outlined what little he knew of the coming attack, his voice steady despite the exhaustion clearly weighing on him. Kael listed defensive positions around the academy, points where the Council would likely try to breach first, his mind clearly already three steps ahead. I added what I knew of my father's usual tactics, every detail I could remember from years of half listening to conversations I was never supposed to hear.

Lyra stood in the middle of us, quiet, absorbing everything, her expression steady despite everything she had already survived this week, more than any of us truly understood. I watched her listen to every word, weighing each detail, already thinking three moves ahead the way she always did.

"Whatever happens tonight," she said finally, "I am not running from this. I am done running from everything that scares me."

"Nobody is asking you to run," Kael said quietly, though I could see how much the thought of her fighting still terrified him.

"Good." Her eyes moved across all three of us, a resolute calm settling into her expression that made her look older than she was. "Because I would rather fight beside people who chose me than survive alone with people who never did."

The sun began sinking lower behind the ridge as she spoke, the sky bleeding orange into deep violet, the first pale edge of the moon already visible above the treeline, pale and patient, counting down toward whatever waited for us tonight.

We stood there together for one long, strange moment, four people who had spent weeks tangled in secrets and suspicion and stolen glances, finally standing on the same side of a fight that actually mattered, no more games between us, no more pretending. For the first time in longer than I could remember, I did not feel entirely alone in whatever came next.

It did not last.

The alarms tore through the academy without warning, loud and relentless, echoing off every stone wall around us, drowning out whatever hope I had let myself feel just moments ago.

Kael's head snapped toward the main gate, his whole body going rigid. "That is not a drill."

Smoke was already rising from the eastern wall, thick and dark against the darkening sky, and figures in Council black were pouring through a breach that had not existed an hour earlier, moving with the kind of coordination that only came from careful planning.

My father's planning, precise and merciless, exactly like everything else he ever built.

They were already inside, and there was no version of tonight that ended without someone getting hurt.