Before the Grove
POV: Diana
“We burned that place to the ground.”
Cameron’s voice was flat.
Not cold just stunned.
He traced his thumb over the glowing edge of the map where Gina’s spell had marked The Silent Grove tucked into the bottom corner of the Bloom testing ruins.
The very same place they’d once reduced to ash during the final chapter of the Bloom Company’s collapse.
I stood beside him heart rattling in my chest.
Because some things weren’t supposed to survive fire.
And yet… here it was.
A whisper beneath the wreckage.
Still alive.
Still calling.
“We’ll go,” I said, steadying my breath. “But not yet. Not with Cael. Not without knowing what waits.”
He turned to me, jaw tense, eyes shadowed. “Just us then?”
“Yes,” I said. “Just us. First.”
We left early the next morni
