Then they came for me.
Sentinels. A wall of them. And beside them—Shades. Only a few. But enough.
Thorne charged ahead, taking on two at once with cruel precision. Leo was fully shifted, his lion roaring as it ripped sentinels apart.
But one face stopped me cold.
Kyra.
“You’re mine, bitch.” She croaked, her face elongating.
I rolled my eyes.For fucks sake.
Her features twisted with fury as the shift took hold—bones snapping, limbs contorting. Wings erupted from her back, feathers slick and black as oil. Her eagle form surged forward, consuming her human shape like somethingunholy.
Her scream cracked the air—high, shrill, and wrong. Not human. Not anymore.
She dove straight at me—talons out, gleaming, deadly. Ready to gut me.
I was being attacked from every side.
Sentinels. Shades. Kyra.
My shadows lashed out, stretching thin—fighting on multiple fronts, trying to protect me from too many angles at once.
They weren’t enough.
Not this time.
I threw my shadows like a lasso, snaring her feet mid-flight. Kyra spiralled and crashed, but her momentum carried her straight into me.
She hit hard, knocking the breath from my lungs.
Suddenly, she was on top of me—violent and feral—her long beak snapping and pecking at my chest, tearing ribbons of flesh from my skin.
“Elira!” someone screamed.
A blade sliced through her—clean, brutal—impaling her mid-thorax. Her body twitched once, then went still.
I shoved her off, breath ragged, blood pouring from the wounds she’d left behind.
I looked up, expecting Thorne or Slade—
But it wasn’t.
It was Finn.
He stood there, shaking, a bloodied sword in his hand. His eyes were wide, his face pale, streaked with sweat and tears.
I stumbled back, uncertain. “Finn…”
His face crumpled.
“I’m so sorry, Elle,” he said, voice breaking. “Gods, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “I forgive you. I promise—I forgive you.”
He clutched at me. “You need to run. You need to go. And now.” He pushed me towards the boat.
