FINAL PREPARATIONS
~MATHIAS'S POV~
I woke before dawn. Tate was still sleeping, curled against Daxon's chest. They both looked peaceful, young and nothing like the warriors they'd have to become in the next two days.
I slipped out of bed carefully, not wanting to wake them. In the hallway, I found my stepfather waiting.
"Couldn't sleep either?" he asked.
"Too much to think about." We walked to his office in silence. Once inside, he poured two glasses of whiskey despite the early hour.
"To surviving what's coming," he said, raising his glass.
"To surviving," I echoed.
We drank. The burn helped wake me up.
"The Council called," he said. "They're sending representatives to oversee the ceremony."
"Why?"
"To document. If we fall, they want to know what happened." He set his glass dow
