SKYE POV — CHAPTER 38
Power doesn’t announce itself.
It doesn’t need to.
It settles into the air, bends the space around it, forces every living thing to acknowledge it—whether they want to or not.
The moment we step into the clearing, the forest reacts.
Birds scatter. The wind dies. The fire in my chest stirs, not violent, not uncontrolled—but alert. A predator recognizing another force that could become dangerous if mishandled.
Jay Harrington is already there.
On his knees.
Hands pressed flat against the ground like the earth is the only thing keeping him upright.
The soil beneath him is cracked wide open, roots curling and breaking through the surface in slow, deliberate movements. Not chaotic. Not random.
Responding.
His eyes glow an unmistakable earthen green, brighter than
