The Warning
Elira comes closer until there is barely any distance between us, and I can see every detail of her face, every bruise, every scar, and every trace of exhaustion that time has somehow preserved.
“They’ll come for you,” she says. “All of them, Isla. Zayden wants the baby, Darius wants the crown, and there will be others who decide the safest way to stop you is to kill you before you have the chance to choose for yourself.”
“I already chose,” I tell her, remembering the way I stood before Darius and refused to surrender. “Today, I told Darius no.”
A real smile appears on Elira’s face.
“Good,” she says. “That is step one.”
“What’s step two?”
“Learn.”
The word hangs between us.
“The power inside you isn’t just light, Isla,” she continues. “It is choice, it is voice, and it
