Chapter Fifty-Eight
Blade’s pov
The adrenaline of the previous night had left my body, leaving behind a hollow, vibrating exhaustion that made every movement feel like wading through deep water. I needed to escape. I needed to wash the taste of Dax’s blood and the smell of the compound out of my pores. I left the barracks long before the sun had fully risen, taking my bike deep into the valley behind the compound’s northern ridge.
It was a place most of the brothers ignored—a jagged, steep descent through thick pines that opened up into a hidden basin. At the center lay a lake so still and clear it looked like a polished mirror reflecting the jagged granite cliffs above. The water was glacial, biting and pure. I stripped off my boots and jeans, the morning air prickling my skin, and dov
