Caelen studied me—like he was trying to read something buried too deep.
“And if he’s dead?”
The words hit like a fist.
I wanted to punchhim.
Instead, I said, low and hard, “Then at least I’ll know.”
He didn’t answer. But his silence wasn’t empty—it echoed with guilt. The same guilt clawing through me.
We stared down the cliffside. Jagged rock. Swirling mist. Too many shadows. Too many places he could’ve fallen. Too many chances we were already too late.
I stopped at the ledge and let the wind cut through me.
Where are you, Slade?
Please.
Hold on.
Just hold on.
Chapter 32
Elira
“Little mouse… wake up, little mouse.”
A voice whispered through the fog of my mind.
My eyes opened.
I was on a ship—inside a cabin room, swaying gently with the waves. And Finn…
Finn was here.
I didn’t know if this was real. If he’d truly come to me, or if my heart had conjured him one last time.
I jolted upright. “Finn? What are you—” Warmth bloomed in my chest. Foreign. Too rare. I threw myself into his arms. He felt real. Solid. My hands found his face—wet with tears.
He looked healthy. Strong. Like the version of him I remembered before everything broke.
“Why are you crying?” I asked, voice shaking.
He gave me a sad smile. “I almost forgot how much I liked your hugs.”
I looked around. The cabin was beautiful—rich wood, heavy curtains, a captain’s quarters. But cold metal shackles hung from my wrists. Heavy. Real.
“I don’t think you’re in a good place, Elle,” he said gently.
“What happened?” My thoughts were sluggish. The edges of memory blurred.
“There was a fight, little mouse.”
Images hit like lightning—
Thorne. His eyes like void.
