Aria's POV
The land changed the moment we crossed into what had once been Selene's family territory — the trees thinner, the air colder, the ground itself seeming to remember the fire that had swept through it two decades before.
Damien rode close beside me, tension radiating off him in waves he wasn't bothering to hide. Behind us, a small honor guard kept a careful, respectful distance — enough to signal we hadn't come for war, not so few that we'd arrive defenseless if his ranks had already fractured past the point of control.
"You're certain about this," Damien said, not for the first time.
"No," I admitted. "But certain isn't something I expect to feel again anytime soon. I'm choosing it anyway."
We reached the burned clearing by midafternoon.
The scene waiting for us confirmed e
