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I bury my face in his shoulder, groaning. "I should be putting you out of your misery."

"Too late. I thrive in it."

Luna glances back at us then, her brow arched, mouth twitching, and I know that look. She’s trying not to laugh at us—at me. Because I’m slumped over Silas like some damsel who’s decided life is just too hard.

And damn it, I want to make her laugh.

"Hey, sweetheart," I call out, raising my head, my voice pitched teasing. "You picked the wrong brother. Clearly, Silas is the one carrying the weight of this relationship."

That earns me a sharp glare and a snort from her, but I swear her cheeks pinken before she turns away again, shaking her head.

Silas leans back into me as we continue walking. "You’re welcome."

"Shut up."

But I don’t let go.

And ahead of us, the road curves downward toward the village, the air heavier now, charged with something that feels like the calm before the kind of storm that destroys everything in its wake.

Silas hitches me higher on his back like I’m light as breath, and I let my chin drop over his shoulder, lazy and crooked, my gaze slipping past him to where Luna and Caspian walk a few paces ahead. They're close, heads tipped together, the weight of whatever they're saying pressed between them like something sharp and private.

I hum low, because the ache in my chest is heavier than my limbs right now, heavier than the damn war we’re marching toward. “What do you think they’re talking about?” I mutter under my breath, not expecting an answer.

Silas doesn’t miss a beat. “I can read lips, you know.”

I snort. “You can’t read shit.”

He glances back at me, all teeth, wicked like he’s about to unleash hell. “No, really. Caspian just told her he wants to braid her hair and feed her grapes while she tells him he’s pretty.”

I laugh, sharp and unexpected, because it’s so stupid and because I can picture Caspian’s face if I said that to him. “Oh yeah? And what did she say?”

Silas doesn’t even hesitate. “She said only if he paints her toenails too. Blood red.”

“Hot.”

Silas winks over his shoulder. “Always knew Caspian was a foot guy.”

I bark a laugh that draws Luna’s head around, her eyes narrowing suspiciously at the two of us like she knows exactlywho’s stirring shit from the back of the line. I offer her a slow, lazy grin, raising my brows like I’m innocent when we both know I’m not.

Silas leans back into me conspiratorially, voice dropping. “She’s glaring, Dain. Bet you a bottle she’s imagining creative ways to murder you.”

“Good,” I mutter. “Means she’s thinking about me.”

He laughs, but it’s quieter this time, almost soft. Like he knows this isn’t just about jokes—that it never is with her.

Ahead of us, the path curves down into the village, lights flickering like dying stars in the fading daylight. Tomorrow we face hell. Tonight, we play pretend, because that’s the only way any of us knows how to survive.

Silas keeps up his ridiculous commentary, feeding me made-up lines of what Caspian and Luna are supposedly whispering. I don’t correct him. I let him talk, let him fill the quiet with something easy, because tonight is the last time it’ll ever be like this—before everything burns.

Silas keeps rambling nonsense under his breath, weaving an entire, ridiculous soap opera between Luna and Caspian just for my entertainment as I lounge like a sloth on his back. I barely have to hold on—Silas is steady, even when he’s being a menace.

But then, out of the corner of my eye, I catch it. The flick of movement. Quiet. Calculated.

Ambrose.

Moving like he doesn’t want anyone to notice, but I always notice. He’s angling toward Silas, the way a predator stalks something stupid enough to underestimate it. Except he’s not looking at Silas the way he used to—like he’s annoyed, above it all, too cold to engage in the chaos. No, there’s something looser in the set of his mouth, the barest ghost of a smile tugging at the edge of his lips. Almost human.

I don’t even hesitate. I whistle low under my breath, leaning forward over Silas’s shoulder, pointing past him lazily. “Hey, Veyd. Think that’s a tavern over there.”