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“A vision?” I ask, trying to smile, but the way his brows furrow doesn’t fill me with hope.

“Yeah.”

I don’t want to ask it, but I have to. “Everything okay?”

A sad smile takes over his face as his eyes fall closed. A long moment passes before he looks at me again, and I can see the dread in his eyes.

“It was the academy, drenched in blood.”

TWENTY-EIGHT

RAVEN

My sleep is broken. Twisted and dark. Shaped by words spoken over the past twenty-four hours, with a few from the past sprinkled on top for good measure. The main two looping on repeat come from Eldon and my brother.

If Eldon had a vision of the academy drenched in blood, then nothing good can be heading our way. Not that I’m not already aware of that, but shit, he’s solidifying it for sure. Sebastian, however, believes he deserves to die, but for a purpose greater than himself.

Something about it doesn’t sit right in my chest.

Sure, none of us would like to die. The natural fear of the afterlife stokes terror in all of us, and imagining it’s for an almighty cause, something more than our lives, is to be expected. But the way he said it… the determination in his dark, sunken eyes, is something I can’t get out of my head.

My men sleep around me, all tossing and turning in their own way as the looming doom lingers around us. But I do manage to find another kind of solace, more than one if I’m being specific. Shadows.

Everywhere.

Silhouettes outline every inch of the bedroom. I’m certain there are more in here than there ever has been before, but that’s not the part that soothes me. No. It’s the way they seem to be standing guard protectively around me.

I haven’t dared utter a word to them. I refuse to disturb my men from their already restless sleep, so instead, I just watch. Not a single shadow leaves me unnerved. If anything, I feel closer to them now than I ever have before, and I can’t truly explain the how or why.

Maybe it’s the way I can see the outline of some holding hands, the way it’s clear some are bigger and older than others, or maybe it’s the way hands run over the bed sheet that covers me as if trying to soothe the uncertainty away.

It’s as fucked up as everything else in my life, so I’m opting to roll with it. Especially since this is the first time they’ve reappeared since I merged the realms. I thought they were gone for good. Where would they have gone? I don’t fucking know, but to see that they’re still here fills me with joy and a sense of doubt at the same time.

Why aren’t they somewhere safer, calmer, happier? Why are they still here?

Swiping a hand down my face, I sigh, peering at the time. We’ve still got a little over an hour before we can hunt down Lyra, and lying here is officially doing nothing to calm the adrenaline building beneath my skin.

I need an outlet, something to shut my brain off.

Slipping from between Brax and Eldon’s sleeping limbs, I crawl to the end of the bed and tiptoe to the door as quietly as I can. I breathe a sigh of relief when I manage to close the door behind me without disturbing anyone, and the second I do, I get a tugging sensation in my gut.

It’s familiar, and I immediately know where it’s coming from.

Heading toward the patio doors, I can’t see anything beyond the first few yards outside, but I know there’s someone watching and waiting. Keeping all the lights off, I unlock the door and slip outside. The cool air is a blessing, sweeping over my body as I shiver.

“Ari,” I murmur, squinting up at the huge griffin waiting patiently for me.

“You’ve had your walls up,” he grumbles, giving me the griffin equivalent of a death stare.

I shake my head at him as I near, mindlessly running my hands over his feathers as I peer out over the water crashing below.

“You told me to do that, literally taught me, remember?”

“I didn’t mean toward me as well. I haven’t been able to reach out,” he retorts, clearly irritated, but I’m unsure if it’s because I seem to be doing it so well or because he taught me to begin with. I don’t focus on that, though. Instead, worry creeps up my spine about what he may have been dealing with.

“Is everything okay? Is Gia alright?” I blurt, tilting my face to look up at him.

He relaxes, lowering to the ground as he brings me in closer against his chest, sheltering me from the wind that continues to pick up.