Page 38 of The Midnight Death Match

The ruined courtyard is quiet, cloaked in silver-blue moonlight. Shattered columns cast long shadows, and somewhere nearby, the last ember of a ward hums like a memory still trying to hold.

I step out alone, needing space to think. Lys’s riddles consume me, and I try to make sense of them. I’m not going to get any sleep if I can’t solve them.

The stars above are fractured by the skeletons of towers, but they still burn. I tip my head back, just for a moment, letting their light wash over me.

Footsteps sound from behind. Harek joins me, silent until we’re shoulder to shoulder beneath the sky. Warmth spreads through me at his touch.

“It’s the first time we’ve seen stars this clear since we left Mirendel,” he murmurs.

I nod. “It feels like something is waiting to begin.”

“Or end.” His voice is quiet and careful.

We stand together for a while, neither of us reaching, neither stepping away. The space between us hums. My heart beats just a little faster.

“Do you remember,” he says, “the night we ran through the pass when it was snowing?”

I smile faintly. “You got us lost.”

“I saved your life.”

“You lost my brand new boot.”

He laughs, a soft huff that warms the night between us. “But I found it again.”

“And gave it to a passing fox.” I bump his shoulder gently.

He bumps back. For a heartbeat, we’re not the huntress or the werewolf or uncertain allies trying to outrun prophecy. We’re just us.

“I miss this,” he whispers.

My chest tightens. I know what’s coming because I’ve felt it building. For the moment, I let it linger, let myself feel how close we’ve always been. How simple everything was when danger was far away and the only monsters we faced had teeth, not choices.

But simplicity is gone, and the fear hasn’t left. It’s just changed shape.

I draw in a slow and shallow breath, and my fingers brush the hilt of my sword where it rests at my side. It hums faintly with a flicker against my palm.

“I keep seeing it,” I whisper.

Harek looks at me, brow furrowing. “Seeing what?”

“My mother’s face and the shield.”

His breath catches.

“In my dreams,” I continue, voice steady now that I’ve started. “And not just her. Sometimes, it’s you.”

Silence stretches between us like an extending blade.

I can’t meet his gaze. “I don’t ever want that, but the curse doesn’t care what I want.”

“I do.” His voice is quiet but fierce.

“Unfortunately, it’s not enough.”

“Then what is?”

I press a hand to my chest. “I don’t know. But if I get too close to anyone, if I let myself love someone too much, it won’t end well for them.”