The nightfall academy

The cost of power

The silence after violence was never truly quiet.

It lingered.

In the air. In the body. In the mind.

Aiden could still feel it—like an echo trapped beneath his skin.

The fight was over.

But it hadn’t ended.

They didn’t move immediately.

No one spoke.

The clearing still carried the scent of blood, sharp and metallic, clinging to the damp earth. Broken branches lay scattered where bodies had struck and fallen. The forest, which had seemed alive before, now felt like it was holding its breath.

Watching.

Judging.

Waiting for what came next.

Aiden’s hands trembled.

Not from fear.

Not anymore.

From something worse.

He looked down at them.

At the faint streaks of blood across his skin—not all of it his.

His chest tightened.

“I didn’t mean to—”

The words stopped.

Because they weren’t true.

Not entirely.

For a moment back there… he hadn’t cared.

“That’s how it starts.”

Ronan’s voice cut through the quiet.

Low. Steady.

Too calm.

Aiden didn’t look at him.

Didn’t want to.

Because part of him already knew what he would see.

Understanding.

Not sympathy.

“You think it was an accident,” Ronan continued, stepping closer. “That you lost control.”

Aiden swallowed hard. “I did.”

Ronan didn’t argue.

Didn’t agree either.

“You let it in.”

That was worse.

Aiden turned then, something sharp rising in his chest.

“I didn’t have a choice,” he snapped. “They were going to kill me.”

“And next time?” Ronan asked quietly.

The question hit harder than any blow.

Next time.

Aiden had no answer.

Lira shifted nearby, drawing his attention.

She had moved closer to the edge of the clearing, arms wrapped around herself as if trying to hold something together inside her. Her gaze avoided the ground where the fight had taken place.

Avoided him.

That hurt more than it should have.

“You’re scared of me now,” Aiden said.

It wasn’t a question.

Lira hesitated.

That was answer enough.

But still—

“I’m not scared of you,” she said softly.

Aiden let out a quiet breath.

Relief came too quickly.

Too easily.

“I’m scared of what this place is turning you into.”

And just like that—

It was gone.

The words settled heavily in his chest.

Because he felt it too.

That shift.

That edge.

That hunger that hadn’t been there before.

“We don’t have time for this,” Ronan said.

Aiden glanced at him sharply. “You always this cold?”

“Yes.”

The answer was immediate.

Unapologetic.

Ronan’s gaze flicked toward the trees.

“They’ll regroup,” he said. “Cassian won’t retreat without a plan.”

Aiden frowned. “Then we should move.”

“We will.”

But Ronan didn’t.

Not yet.

Instead, he looked at Aiden again.

Longer this time.

More deliberate.

“You need to learn control,” he said.

Aiden let out a quiet, humorless laugh. “You think I don’t know that?”

“Knowing isn’t enough.”

Ronan stepped closer.

The space between them shrank—too quickly, too easily.

“You felt it, didn’t you?” he said, his voice lower now. “When it took over.”

Aiden’s breath hitched.

He didn’t answer.

Didn’t have to.

Ronan leaned in slightly.

Not threatening.

Not gentle either.

Just… close.

“It’s not going to stop,” he said quietly. “Not on its own.”

Aiden’s pulse stuttered.

There was something dangerous in the way Ronan spoke.

Not just in his words.

In the way he understood.

“Then tell me how,” Aiden said.

For the first time—

There was something real in his voice.

Not defiance.

Not sarcasm.

Something raw.

Ronan held his gaze.

And for a moment—

Something shifted.

“You don’t fight it,” he said finally.

Aiden frowned. “That’s your advice?”

“You control it.”

“That sounds the same.”

“It’s not.”

Ronan reached out.

Aiden stiffened instinctively.

But didn’t pull back.

Ronan’s hand hovered near his arm—just above where the earlier wound had been.

Close enough to feel the heat.

Not close enough to touch.

“You feel it here,” Ronan said quietly. “Like it’s waiting.”

Aiden swallowed.

Because he did.

Every second.

“It responds to instinct,” Ronan continued. “Not fear. Not panic.”

His gaze flicked back to Aiden’s eyes.

“So stop reacting like prey.”

The words hit something deep.

Something buried.

Aiden straightened slightly.

“Easy for you to say.”

Ronan’s lips almost—almost—tilted.

Not quite a smile.

But close.

“I wasn’t always like this.”

That caught Aiden off guard.

For a second—

He saw it.

Not the Alpha.

Not the control.

Something else.

Something human.

Then it was gone.

“We move,” Ronan said.

They didn’t argue this time.

The forest shifted again as they moved deeper.

The air grew colder.

Thicker.

The moonlight struggled to reach the ground here, swallowed by dense branches that twisted overhead like claws.

Aiden stayed closer this time.

Not because he trusted Ronan.

But because he understood something now.

Distance was weakness.

Lira followed behind them.

Quieter than before.

More withdrawn.

No one spoke.

Not at first.

Then—

“What happens if someone collects all five?”

The question slipped out before Aiden could stop it.

Ronan didn’t slow.

Didn’t hesitate.

“They don’t.”

That wasn’t an answer.

Aiden frowned. “That’s not what I asked.”

Ronan glanced back briefly.

And there was something in his eyes—

Something dark.

“No one survives long enough to try.”

Aiden’s grip tightened slightly at his side.

“And if they did?”

This time—

Ronan didn’t answer right away.

They walked in silence for several seconds.

Too long.

Then—

“The last person who tried…” Ronan said slowly, “they didn’t die.”

Aiden’s breath caught.

“They disappeared.”

The forest seemed to close in tighter around them.

“Taken?” Lira asked quietly.

Ronan’s gaze shifted forward again.

“No,” he said.

A pause.

“Something worse.”

Aiden didn’t press further.

Didn’t want to.

Because something about the way Ronan said it—

Made it clear.

Whatever happened to that person…

Wasn’t something you came back from.

They reached a structure not long after.

If it could be called that.

Ruins.

Stone walls, half-collapsed.

Vines crawling over broken edges.

Ancient.

Forgotten.

Aiden slowed.

“This wasn’t here before.”

“It was,” Ronan said. “You just couldn’t see it.”

That didn’t make sense.

But nothing about this place did.

Ronan stepped inside first.

Aiden followed.

The air changed immediately.

He felt it.

Like stepping into something that had been waiting.

“Stay alert,” Ronan said.

Aiden didn’t need the warning.

Something was here.

Not moving.

Not visible.

But present.

Lira hesitated at the entrance.

“Aiden…”

He glanced back.

She looked uneasy.

More than before.

“We shouldn’t be here,” she said.

Ronan didn’t respond.

Of course he didn’t.

Aiden stepped further inside.

The ground shifted beneath his foot.

Click.

Too late.

The floor gave way.

Aiden dropped.

Darkness swallowed him whole.

The impact knocked the air from his lungs.

Pain flared through his body as he hit stone.

Hard.

For a moment—

He couldn’t breathe.

Couldn’t move.

Then—

The glow appeared.

Soft.

Faint.

But unmistakable.

Another vial.

Not red this time.

Silver.

Pulsing.

Waiting.

Above—

Ronan’s voice echoed faintly.

“Aiden!”

But Aiden didn’t answer.

Because he couldn’t look away.

The power called to him.

Stronger than before.

Deeper.

And something inside him—

Answered.