The night air was colder up here, as if the world itself were trying to cool the fire burning beneath my skin. The flight had been fast—driven by fear and the need to protect them. I could still feel their bodies against mine, the way their arms had clung to me, even as the wind tossed us through mountain currents.
Now, finally, we descended.
The cave opened before us like a mouth carved into stone. Tall, dark, deep. A natural hiding place, far from the world. The perfect place to stop, to breathe… to feel again.
We landed at the entrance, on a bed of solid rock.
My feet touched the ground first. My wings, still spread, trembled as I slowly folded them back. The power of that transformation—that part of me that wasn’t even Skadi—still pulsed in my veins like a wild current. I was aware
