“He’s awake!” Willow choked out. “Octavian—he finally woke up!”
Relief hit Ravyn so violently her knees almost buckled. The entire night—fear, guilt, the echo of Rion’s warnings, Sebastian’s strained calm, Kade’s confession—collapsed beneath one powerful wave of gratitude.
He’s okay. He’s alive. He survived.
Sebastian was the first to move, brushing past Willow and disappearing through the doors. Kade followed, and Ravyn ran after them.
Octavian lay propped against a stack of pillows, bruised, pale, and bandaged—but awake. Awake and alive, with his dark long curls flattened awkwardly against his forehead and his sarcastic smirk already forming.
“About time you guys got here,” he croaked. “I was starting to think nobody cared.”
Ravyn laughed—half-sob, half-sound of pure relief—crouchi
