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The burrow is pink.

Not all of it—just the veins in the walls. Pale streaks of rose light pulse through twisted roots like a heartbeat. Like the Evergloom was marked by Parker and decided that it liked itself better this way.

The place still feels like death. Like the air is two seconds from collapsing in on itself.

But now… it glows.

And she hasn’t woken up yet.

Rad paces near the far wall, tail flicking restlessly behind him. He keeps glancing toward where Parker is sleeping on a bed made of twigs—like he can force her awake with sheer willpower. His distress travels along our new bond, making me feel on edge.

The shadow monster—Steo—hasn’t moved in ten minutes, but it’s impatience that leaks through from him. He stands like a sentinel carved from bone and reverence, arms crossed, eyes fixed on her. He’s watching like if she misses one more breath, he’ll unmake the realm just to force it back into her lungs. His shadows curl tight around her, stroking her softly.

And me? I’m perched on what I hope is a stool and not some sentient, brooding root, cradling a mug of something warm and vaguely moss-flavored. Trying not to look like I’m two seconds from unraveling.

“…Do you think she’ll wake up?” I ask, voice low, barely more than breath.

Rad freezes mid-step.

Steo doesn’t move—but I swear his shadows flinch.

“I don’t know,” Rad says finally, and it’s quiet. Honest. “I’ve never felt her go this still before. And I can no longer access her dreams.”

The silence sinks in deep. Heavy. Like the room itself is holding its breath.

None of us say it aloud. But we all feel it.

So I shift the weight. Because there’s an elephant in the room and I’m going to crawl out of my skin if I don’t address it.

“So... are we just not murdering each other now?”

Rad doesn’t miss a beat. “Temporary ceasefire. Like a holiday truce. No knives until sundown.”

Steo doesn’t blink, his creepy glowing orange eyes like two floating orbs in the semi-darkness. “I was not given a blade.”

Is he serious? I honestly can’t tell. “Would you need one?” I ask, lifting a brow, more in surprise than anything else at this point.

His head tilts. “No.”

I swallow my fear down.

Rad takes a deep inhale then snorts. “Realms help us.”

I take a long sip to distract myself. “I mean, I’m just saying, Steo and I should probably address the fact that he tried to kill me... multiple times.”

The shadow monster doesn’t respond at first but I can clearly feel a possessive anger strumming that isn’t mine.

Then, quietly: “You touched what was mine.”

My throat tightens, but I don’t look away, because we are now linked, tethered, and there is no way I’m not going to claim my place in this weird little fucked up circle we now form, if not for my own sake then for Parker’s. Definitely not leaving her to navigate all this with these two alone. That’s fucking fact. So I say, “I didn’t know she was yours.”

“You do now.”

“Do you?” I counter.

That lands.

Rad stops pacing.

Steo’s shadows still.

I set the mug down. “She chose all of us. You get that, right? She didn’t pick just you. She didn’t pick just me. She tied herself to all three of us.”

“She is not a prize,” Steo replies, voice low.

“I never said she was. But you keep talking like you’re the only one who bleeds for her.”

That earns me silence. But there is no mistaking what is buzzing between all of us, through our link, our bond. And it surprises me. It’s respect, and acceptance.

Then Rad mutters, “Finally. A real conversation. I was about to start biting people just to break the tension.”

My lips twitch despite myself. The nightmare demon is growing on me, dammit.

Steo shifts slightly. “I have only ever known how to protect through power. Through fear. Through death. But she... teaches differently.”

That’s… not what I expected for him to say. I blink. “Wait. Are you admitting you were wrong?”

“I am admitting,” he says slowly, “that I did not understand.”

That lands heavier than he intended.

I nod. “Well. I didn’t understand either. I thought I was the one keeping her alive. Turns out she’s the one keeping us.”

Rad folds his arms, quiet determination coming off of him. “She always was.”

“And you,” I glance over at him. “You’ve thrown more punches at Steo than I have. Are we good now, or do I need to build a fight pit?”

Rad shrugs. “I’m good. I just didn’t want her tethered to something that didn’t deserve her. Now... I’m not so sure she didn’t tame the beast.”

Steo’s shadows twitch. He doesn’t refute it.

I laugh under my breath. “Fuck, we’re going to need rules.”

“We’ll break them anyway,” Rad says.

“I will follow hers,” Steo says. “No others.”

The silence returns—but it’s different now.

Not trust, not yet, but something close enough to build on.

Maybe this is what it means to be hers.

Maybe that’s enough.

Then—

She stirs.

A soft sound, almost a sigh—and it nearly undoes me.

I squeeze my eyes shut, breathing through the crush of relief and something rougher, deeper, that feels a hell of a lot like love.

Beside me, Rad shifts—the tension bleeding from his frame like a punctured wound. Even Steo, who hasn’t moved for what feels like hours, exhales slow and shallow, a sound barely louder than the hush of the burrow itself.

She’s waking up.

She’s still fighting.

And I'm not leaving her side ever again.