Two weeks after the Fae showed up and we still hadn’t made a decision about their alliance offer, mostly because every option seed terrible and also we’d been distracted by the novel concept of not actively dying.
Turned out when you weren’t fighting demons or breaking bindings or temporarily dying, life could be almost—normal. Which was weird and unsettling and also kind of nice?
Like this morning I’d woken up in a bed with all four mates tangled around and nobody was bleeding or corrupted or making life-or-death decisions, we were just—there. Existing together.
Novel concept.
"You’re thinking too loud." Kael’s voice was rough with sleep. "I can feel you catastrophizing through the bond."
"I’m not catastrophizing." The lie was transparent. "I’m just—processing. There’s a difference."
"Is there?" But his arm tightened around and I pressed closer because apparently my body had decided proximity to mates was required for basic functioning.
Codependent. I’d gotten really codependent really fast. That seed like sothing I should examine except examining it required energy I didn’t have.
"The alliance is stable." Riven’s voice ca from sowhere to my left. "One hundred seventeen fighters remaining. Morgana confird the witches are staying permanently. Marcus negotiated agreents with the wolves who stayed. We’re—" He paused. "We’re actually okay."
Actually okay. When was the last ti we’d been actually okay? Before the demon? Before the claiming? I couldn’t even rember anymore.
"Training today?" Thorne’s rough voice ca from behind . "Or rest?"
Training or rest. That was—wait, that was a choice? We got to choose?
"Rest." Draven’s voice was firm. "We’ve been training constantly for two weeks. One day off won’t kill us."
One day off. Right. Except the Fae had given us thirty days and we’d used fourteen which ant we had sixteen left to decide and also prepare for ancient evil and—
Okay I was catastrophizing. That was definitely catastrophizing.
"Stop." Kael’s hand cupped my face. "One day. We’re taking one day to just—be. No prophecies. No ancient evils. No decisions. Just us."
Just us. The five of us in a bed with nowhere we had to be and nothing actively trying to kill us.
That sounded—that sounded perfect actually.
Except my brain kept trying to count down the days until The Root erged and calculate whether sixteen days was enough ti to prepare and spiral about whether we should accept the Fae offer and—
"Out of your head." Riven’s voice was patient. "Into your body. Feel us. We’re here."
Feel us. Right. I reached through the bonds and let myself actually experience what they were feeling instead of just managing the connections.
Kael’s absolute certainty that we’d figure it out.
Riven’s patient confidence that we had ti.
Thorne’s feral contentnt just being close.
Draven’s controlled relief that the corruption was gone and he was free.
All of it washed over and my brain finally, finally stopped counting and calculating and catastrophizing.
Just for a mont. Just for now.
We stayed in bed until noon which felt decadent and also slightly irresponsible except nobody died so maybe taking breaks was actually sustainable?
Revolutionary concept.
Afternoon found in the training yard anyway because apparently I couldn’t handle a full day of rest without getting twitchy, and when I reached for the temporal magic it responded differently than before.
Not just stronger. Different.
I froze a training dummy and instead of just stopping ti I could feel the threads of temporal magic, see how they wove together, understand the structure in ways I hadn’t before.
"That’s new." Morgana’s voice ca from behind . "You’re not just freezing ti anymore. You’re manipulating it. Understanding it."
Understanding it. Right. Breaking the binding had definitely unlocked sothing and my magic was evolving in ways that were either really useful or really dangerous.
Probably both.
"How much control do you have?" She moved closer with her tablet because apparently even on rest days she was docunting everything.
"I don’t know." Honest answer. "I can freeze. I can—I think I can slow ti without stopping it? And maybe—" I reached for the magic experintally. "Maybe speed it up too? Make things age faster?"
I focused on a leaf that had fallen near the training dummy. Pushed intent at it carefully. Age. Decay. Move forward through ti.
The leaf withered. Turned brown. Crumbled to dust in seconds instead of weeks.
"That’s—" Morgana’s voice was awed. Terrified. "That’s advanced temporal manipulation. You’re not just freezing monts anymore. You’re controlling the flow of ti itself."
Controlling the flow of ti. That sounded powerful and also dangerous because what happened if I lost control? If I accidentally aged soone I cared about or myself or—
"Try reversing it." Her voice was cautious. "Just a few seconds. On sothing small."
Reverse ti. That was—could I even do that?
I found another leaf. Focused. Pushed intent backward instead of forward. Reverse. Rewind. Undo.
The leaf flickered. For just a second it looked greener, newer, like I’d wound back its age.
Then my nose started bleeding and my vision tunneled and I had to drop the magic before I passed out.
"You did it." Morgana caught before I fell. "For maybe two seconds. But you actually reversed ti."
Reversed ti. I’d reversed ti. That was—that was terrifying and incredible and I had no idea what the limits were or how to control it safely.
"Don’t test that without supervision." Morgana made notes. "Accelerated aging is volatile. One mistake and you could turn yourself into dust."
Turn myself into dust. Great. Love that my magic ca with age-yourself-to-death as a potential side effect.
"How are you actually doing?" The question ca quieter. "Really. Not Hybrid Queen political answer. Real answer."
Real answer. That was—I didn’t even know where to start.
"I’m tired." The words ca out before I could stop them. "And scared. And I keep having nightmares about dying except in the nightmares they can’t restart my heart and I’m just—gone. And I don’t know if accepting the Fae alliance is brilliant or catastrophically stupid. And I’m terrified The Root is going to show up before we’re ready and everyone’s going to die because I’m not strong enough or fast enough or—"
I had to stop because apparently once I started admitting things they all ca out at once.
"You’re human." Morgana’s voice was gentle. "Hybrid, but human enough to be scared and tired and uncertain. That’s—that’s good. That ans you’re not so far gone you’ve lost perspective."
Not so far gone. Right. The bar for success was really low at this point.
That night all five of us ended up on the roof—because apparently that was our collective processing location now—and we just sat there watching stars and existing together without crisis.
"Sixteen days." I heard myself say it. "Until we have to decide about the Fae."
"Sixteen days." Kael agreed. "But tonight we’re here. Together. That’s enough."
Tonight was enough. Except that’s when I fell asleep and the nightmare ca.
Not the usual nightmare about my heart not restarting.
This one was different. Darker. I was standing in emptiness and sothing vast and ancient was moving toward , sothing that tasted like void and hunger and the end of everything.
The Root. I could feel it. Could sense it reaching across the distance between realities, searching, hunting.
And it knew I was there.
Knew I’d destroyed the demon.
Knew I was the Hybrid Queen.
It was coming. Not in a year. Not in months.
Soon.
I woke up screaming and all four bonds were flooding with concern and I couldn’t breathe couldn’t think couldn’t—
"Prophecy." The word tore out of . "That was—that wasn’t just a nightmare. That was prophecy. The Root is coming. Weeks. Maybe days. We’re out of ti."
We were out of ti and we still hadn’t decided about the Fae and I’d just seen the thing that was going to kill us all if we weren’t ready.
No pressure.
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