Commander—Branson’s voice vanishes mid-thought.
One second, I’m connected to four distinct minds, and the next, I’m alone in the echoing space of Rhiannon’s consciousness, our bond the only thread left intact.
Are you okay?
Yeah, hold on.
Rhiannon braces herself. One inhale. Two. Her iron will drags our minds back into focus.
The channel reopens.
Fuck.
What happened?
The others flood back in, their presence shakier than before, but there.
Rhiannon tried to destroy the cornerstone,I offer as Rhiannon catches her breath.
There’s a ward,Rhiannon adds.
A protection spell,Branson chimes in.Brute force won’t break it.
The crystal dangling against my chest pulses with sudden heat, tugging toward the prism like iron to lodestone. I grab it instinctively, the pull buzzing through my fingers.
The prism brightens with the same surge-lull rhythm as before.Pulse. Fade. Pulse. Fade.
The charm answers in perfect synchronization.
Haron’s charm, I tell the others.It’s syncing with the pulses. It’s reacting to the prism.
Then it can disrupt the ward,Branson’s thought carries certainty.But it probably has to make contact.
My stomach drops.
The charm remains in my hand. The salt formation is about forty feet away, and the prism another twenty beyond that. Holden stands between them, trading blows with Xander now, power crackling between them with each strike.
No.Rhiannon’s thought hits like a slap.Absolutely not.
What else can I do?I respond.You want me to fucking throw it?
I’ll do it,she insists.
Holden will catch on if you have to cross twenty feet of open ground and then make it back again,I reason with her, shaking my head.If I keep it on until the last second, I shorten the window that I’m vulnerable.
You’re already vulnerable. You’re HUMAN.
Then you better cover me.
I don’t give either of us time to think.
Ethan—
My legs are moving before Rhiannon’s protest finishes forming, my boots pounding against frost-slicked stone as I sprint from behind the pillars. The cold air burns my lungs. Sixty feet has never felt so far.
Holden’s head snaps toward me like a predator that smells blood. His eyes lock onto the crystal bouncing against my chest, and I watch understanding flash across his face. He pivots toward me, abandoning Xander mid-strike.
Alpha, anchor Holden inside the ritual footprint!Rhiannon’s command crackles through the bond.Akila, feint left—make him overcommit. Branson, you’re Ethan’s shield. I’ll hit the prism the second that ward drops.
