Three weeks passed in a blur of discovery.
Every day, I met them in the park. Every day, we talked—about their worlds, my heritage, the power growing inside me like a second heartbeat. Caspian taught me to shield my mind from intrusion, to feel the bond without being overwhelmed by it. Kael showed me how to ground myself, to draw strength from the earth, to listen to the whispers of my hybrid blood.
And every night, I dreamed of my mother.
She appeared in fragments—a smile here, a warning there, always fading before I could reach her. But each time, I felt her love like a blanket wrapped around my shoulders. Each time, I woke stronger.
The pendant never stopped warming my chest.
"You're progressing faster than I expected," Caspian said one afternoon. We sat on our usual bench, Kael ha
