They did not move again until dawn began to thin the night.
The ravine held them in a fragile calm—wolves retreating, danger pulling back just enough to breathe. Lena sat against a fallen tree, knees drawn in, watching the sky lighten through tangled branches. Everything inside her felt stretched, like a truth pulled too far to snap back into place.
Eli remained close, closer than he ever had before. Not guarding. Anchoring.
Neither of them spoke for a long time.
When the first birds began to stir, Lena finally broke the silence. “They’re not done.”
“No,” Eli agreed. “They’re regrouping.”
She nodded. She could feel it too now—movement far beyond the ravine, intentions aligning and fracturing at once. The Order was no longer united. Fear had done what no rebellion ever could.
It had
