(Isla)
Kieran was already outside when I woke up.
No sun yet. Just that gray light that makes everything look like a sketch. The air smelled like wet dirt and pine.
He had two stones set in the dirt. A circle. About ten feet wide.
"Today we learn to see," he said when I came out.
I had the letter from Darius in my pocket. I hadn't burned it. I hadn't answered it.
Kieran didn't ask about it.
"Elira told you to look for threads," he said. "So we start there."
I nodded. The baby shifted. Heavier every day.
"How do I do it," I asked.
"You already did it once," Kieran said. "At the border. With Zayden. You stopped him without touching him."
"That was panic," I said.
"Good," Kieran said. "Panic opens things. Now we do it on purpose."
He stepped into the circle. "Come in."
I steppe
