Page 113

Orin
The fire burns low, its embers casting long shadows over the jagged ruin of the Hollow. The others are settled, weary but unwilling to let themselves rest, not when we’ve only just escaped one war and might already be staring down another.
And I, Orin Vale, have waited long enough.
I sit at the edge of the gathering, hands folded over my lap, letting the weight of what I know settle deep in my chest. Caspian and Ambrose are gone. Disappeared from the house while I was bringing Layla back, taken in a fight I was too far away to stop.
And I have not yet told them.
Not because I feared their reaction. Not because I believed it should be kept from them.
But I needed to decide how best to deliver the truth.
I glance at Lucien across the fire. He sits with his usual stillness, his mind working behind sharp, calculating eyes. If given the chance, I think he would keep this from Luna, not out of malice, not out of distrust, but out of some ingrained need to shield her.
But Caspian and Ambrose are hers as much as they are ours.
And the right thing to do is to tell them all.
So I do.
“They’re gone.” My voice does not rise, does not break through the conversation, it simply lands, weighted, final.
Lucien stills. Across the fire, Luna’s gaze lifts, dark and sharp, latching onto mine immediately.
It is Elias who speaks first. “Okay, let’s back up. Who’s gone?”
I exhale slowly. “Caspian and Ambrose.”
A shift moves through the group. Not quite a snap of panic, but something close, like a thread pulled too tight.
Luna straightens, and though her face gives nothing away, I feel the force of her attention settle on me like a storm waiting to break. “Explain.”
I meet her gaze, deliberate, steady. “I was bringing Layla back to the house. When we arrived, something was wrong. There had been a fight. The signs of it were clear, magic still hanging in the air, blood on the ground. But no bodies. No sign of them anywhere.”
Riven shifts beside her, his fingers twitching against his knee. “And you’re only telling us this now?”
I incline my head. “I needed to be sure of what I saw.”
Silas exhales sharply, dragging a hand through his hair. “Okay, great. So, what, they just vanished?”
“They were taken,” I correct. “But there were no bodies. No signs of death. That means they are alive.”
Luna watches me, silent for a long, stretching moment. She is waiting for something, for me to say more, for me to tell her what she already knows deep in her ribs.
So I give it to her.
“They are not just ours to lose, Luna.” I let the words settle between us, slow and deliberate. “They are yours.”
Something flickers in her eyes, something sharp.
Lucien finally speaks. “This does not change our immediate priority.” His voice is even, controlled. “We just have two enemies to contend with now.”
Luna does not look away from me when she says, “It changes everything.”
Lucien exhales through his nose, but he does not argue.
The fire flickers low, but the weight in the air is heavier than before, charged with something darker, something ancient, something that has never belonged to Luna, but will change everything about her future.