Ella's POV
The stars blinked dimly above, veiled by thin, fast-moving clouds. The cold bit at my skin, but I welcomed it—it was honest, unlike the weight sitting in my chest since the strategy meeting. Since Remo's voice echoed in that war room like thunder, laced with something I couldn't name.
Fear, maybe.
Or something worse. Something personal.
I sat on the edge of the stone fountain in the courtyard, my arms wrapped around myself. The scent of ash from the witches' burned trap still lingered in the wind, subtle but clinging like guilt. Darius was safe—thank the Goddess. But the vision of his tiny body nearly broken, the panic in his cries, the agony in Remo's eyes when he held him...
It hadn't left me.
Not for a second.
"Can't sleep either?"
Christian's voice was low, almost ki
