Page 4 of The Survivors (The Children of the Sun God #4)

Persephone

“When I severed the bond, I fear I broke more than a thread. I fear I awakened a storm waiting in its place.”

A hollowness forms in my chest. The part of me I severed to break our bond has taken something irreplaceable with it. How do I feel? Relieved? Devastated? A little of both, I suppose. I sit cross-legged by the lake, staring at the rippling reflection of my only companion, the moon. A breeze carries the scent of pine, yet tonight, it’s muted, like the world has dimmed itself in quiet mourning.

“You’re different now,” Ciara says, stepping out from behind the trees. Her voice is careful, like she’s afraid one wrong word might shatter me entirely.

I glance at her but can’t find the strength to respond. Different. I’ve been called many things, but never that .

She sits beside me. Her warmth a faint comfort against the cool night air. “Do you regret it?”

The answer doesn’t come easily. My mind churns with memories of Ioannis—the way his presence always felt so inescapable, like a dog nipping at my heels. But there was safety in that once, wasn’t there? A time when his smile had meant something. And yet…

“No,” I whisper, though my voice wavers. “I had to.”

“What will you do now?”

“I can’t stay here. My family won’t understand my decision, and Ioannis…I can’t imagine what he will do to me.”

Ciara pushes against my shoulder. “If he tries anything, you have a powerful witch for a best friend.”

“When I awoke, the air tasted differently. I didn’t even realize the air held flavor until this morning.

“I keep replaying your vision in my mind.” A heart turning dark. The phrase loops endlessly, like a cursed melody I can’t escape. “Do you think severing the bond was enough to stop it? Or did I unwittingly set it into motion?”

Ciara hangs her head. “We never should have looked. I can’t see the consequences. I tried.”

We sit in silence, watching the occasional fish jump out of the water. I twist the protection charm around my neck that she gave me years ago .

“Leaving won’t stop the consequences, you know.” Ciara’s voice startles me.

“I can’t dwell on that. What matters is what I do next.”

Her hand brushes my arm, halting me. “Be careful, Persephone. When you cut him loose, you didn’t just walk away from fate—you rewrote it. And the Fates—they don’t like being defied.”

Her words stick with me when I stand up. I pick up the bag I packed hidden behind the trees. Somewhere behind me, Ioannis is nursing his wounds, and ahead of me, the unknown beckons.

“I can’t come with you. My family needs me,” Ciara says with regret.

“I don’t remember asking you to join me. What comes next, I have to do alone.”

When I take my first steps, the sharp cry of a raven splits the silence. It circles above me once, twice, then flies westward.

I shiver. Ravens were always messengers in Ciara’s visions. The question is, what message do they carry this time?