The air smelled of smoke, the earth trembled beneath my feet as the Silver Thorn's compound crumbled around us. Chaos had erupted—the rebellion had finally reached its peak, and everything I had once known was disintegrating.
I ran through the shadows, my heart racing. The once impenetrable walls of the compound were nothing more than broken fragments of stone now. People screamed. The metallic scent of blood lingered.
And in the middle of it all, I spotted him.
Elias.
He stood near the gates, his usual stoic expression now twisted with urgency. My breath caught. He wasn’t supposed to be here. Not like this. Not now. Not after everything.
"Nina!" His voice was a soft rasp, filled with a warning I couldn't ignore. "Go! You have to get out of here. Now."
My legs froze, despite the stor
