Chapter 034
Emilia's POV
The silence after the battle is deafening. The wolves have gone quiet, their howls fading into the night. There is no longer any Ash-Born. I should feel relief. Instead, I'm experiencing a growing sense of emptiness that is spreading rapidly.
I look around at the devastation, the charred remnants of what was once home, and the blood smearing the ground. My heart is pounding, but not because of the altercation. It stems from the legacy we've all inherited.
Nikolas is kneeling in the dirt, gasping for air, and I sit next to him. His chest rises and falls with ragged gasps, his body battered and bruised, but still here. Still alive. His hands shake when they contact the ground, and I can't help but notice how his fingers tuck into the dirt as though it were the on
