Chapter Forty-Five
Lia
Harsh fluorescents beam down from the ceiling, and I squint. Kylo’s no longer in his combat gear. He’s in a fitted black shirt, gray sweatpants, and a backwards black baseball cap.
The backwards cap should not be allowed. It’s a public safety hazard to my self-control. His proud smile deepens his dimple, leaving me momentarily flustered.
“Good morning.”
He looks impossibly handsome.
“What happened?” I ask.
“You defeated Draven without killing him. We captured the remaining hunters that were with him. Elijah and Carter are figuring out what to do with them now.”
Rubbing my temples, I try to catch up. “How long was I out?”
“Almost twenty-four hours.”
A whole day?
“Where’s Draven now?”
“Locked up with the others. Blair included.”
“In the compound?”
“Yes. Elijah is going to determine what can be done about Blair—whether she’s under manipulation or truly gone. I can’t bring myself to do it right now. I had glimpses on the battlefield, and I’m not sure she’s under compulsion.”
“Let’s wait and see what Elijah thinks,” I say, hating the way his shoulders have slumped. “I’m sure we can bring her back.”
He kisses the top of my head in response.
I glance up at him. “So… we did it? The war is over?”
“We did.”
We actually did it.
“What now?” I ask.
Several questions come to mind, and despite the relief, a sense of loss creeps in.
I don’t have a home anymore.
My family is gone.
Kylo rubs my forearm with his thumb. “You’ve got Carter and me.”
“Back to reading my thoughts?”
“Always.”
Carter strolls into the room, a triumphant smile on his face. “Mind if I come in?”
“You’re already in,” Kylo deadpans.
Carter playfully punches him on the arm, then looks at me. “I have a surprise for you.” He’s smiling suspiciously wide, his bright white teeth on full display.
He nods toward the hallway.
“Knock, knock.”
I lurch upright, legs swinging over the edge of the bed.
Leo rushes toward me, wrapping his arms around me like he never left. I collapse into him, burying my face in his neck as sobs tear from my chest. My arms tighten around him, unwilling to let go.
I need to feel that he’s real.
My fingertips hover over his sharp cheekbones.
He’s alive.
Tears blur my vision. “How are you alive?”
“Don’t cry,” he groans.
The tears keep coming—all the grief, relief, and anger tangled together.
“Answer my question!” I grab the nearest pillow and hurl it at his chest.
He catches it and tosses it aside. “I mastered astral projection.”
“Astral what? English, please.”
“I can separate from my body and exist in an energy form. Think of it like a second version of me.”
“That’s possible?”
“I didn’t believe it at first either,” Carter says.
“The day you thought I died? That wasn’t my physical body. It was my astral form. Joaquin stabbed me, and it felt real because it was—at least to that version of me.”
Something about the way he says “exist in an energy form” pulls me back to Joaquin’s memory. The way Andre looked when he was meddling with his visions—those sparks floating away from his body.
Andre wasn’t just a vision seeker.
“But I felt you die,” I say, trying to understand.
“I felt all of it—the pain, the fading. It was real enough to hurt, but it wasn’t death. I made it back to my body before any lasting damage could set in.”
“Why didn’t your body disappear?”
“You didn’t stay long enough to see it.”
“Where have you been?”
“When we were separated in the forest, I met up with Akira. He guarded my body. After the compound collapsed, Akira brought me here.”
“Why keep it from me? Why let me believe it—grieve it—when it wasn’t real?”
“He had to,” Carter says, stepping in.
I whip my head toward him. “Wait. Did you all know he was alive?”
Carter looks away.
“Tell me I’m wrong.” I look at all three of them. “You knew. You watched me mourn him.”
“Kylo didn’t know,” Carter says quickly. “Only Elijah, Akira, Leo, and I were in on the plan.”
“Why did you keep this a secret?”
“I had a premonition,” Carter says. “If you and Leo faced Joaquin together, one of you would die. But I saw another outcome, one where it was just you and we won.”
He nods toward Leo. “When we paired that with his earlier vision—the vision I told you about—we made the call.”
“You had to kill Joaquin,” Leo says. “You were the outlier. The factor he could never account for.”
“Since Joaquin didn’t expect you to end him, we knew we had to push you far enough to unlock your full potential,” Carter adds.
“When Carter and I discovered my astral projection, it gave us a loophole. I’d make you believe I was dead—long enough for the pain to drive you to take Joaquin down.”
Carter nods. “It was the only scenario that worked in our favor.”
Joaquin’s last words echo in my mind: You were the variable I could never predict.
The betrayal burns like a brand pressed to my heart.
“I thought you didn’t interfere with your visions?”
“We’re not supposed to,” Leo says. “But if breaking the rules meant saving you and ending this war, I was ready to pay whatever price it took.”
“What about the consequences? Did that cross your mind?”
“Hurting you was the cost, and I’ll never forgive myself for that.”
“We didn’t change the future. Sometimes there are dozens of paths ahead of us,” Carter interjects. “We chose the only one where we all survived.”
I was the cost.
His collateral damage.
A means to an end. Not his twin.
“Do you have any idea what it felt like to experience your death? It felt like someone reached into my chest and ripped my heart out.” My voice breaks. “And it wasn’t even real. You were alive. You were here.”
Grabbing his hand, I shove every ounce of my grief into him.
Every hollow second I spent without him.
“Do you know what that did to me?”
Leo stumbles back like I’ve struck him, his face contorting in pain.
“Enough.” Carter pries my hand off Leo’s.
“You’re no better!” I lash out, turning on him. “You knew what I was going through. I confided in you.”
For once, the ever-stoic Carter breaks eye contact first, his gaze falling in shame.
“I’m so sorry, Lia. I didn’t want to hurt you,” Leo says.
“You knew what your decision would do to me, and you did it anyway.”
He’s the one person I never thought I’d have to protect myself from.
Leo pulls me close as I cry. “I’m sorry, Lia,” he repeats.
“I’m still so mad at you, but you have no idea how happy I am that you’re alive.”
“We do,” Kylo says softly. “You’re projecting your emotions.”
His understanding smile wrecks me. I pull him into the hug too, needing both of them. “I love you both.”
Leo pulls away, eyeing Kylo. “When did this happen?”
“I’ll catch you up later.” I sniff, taking the tissue Carter somehow already has ready for me.
I still have too many questions.
“Ask them,” Kylo says.
“Ask what?” Carter asks.
Thanks, Kylo.
“How did you learn astral projection?”
“Astral projection is an advanced form of vision-seeking,” Leo says. “I didn’t know I had it until Carter and I started practicing deep meditation. That’s when I refined my precognition.”
“There are all kinds of potential abilities,” Carter adds. “You, for example, still haven’t shown the full extent of your telepathy, empathy, or siphoning.”
A persistent pressure builds behind my forehead. I lean my head back, trying to ease the pounding in my left temple.
“You need rest,” Kylo says, his brows pinched with concern. “We’ll discuss this when you’re feeling better.”
“Elijah has more information than I do. He’ll fill in the gaps when you’re ready,” Leo says, giving my arm a quick squeeze before heading out with Carter.
“Thank you,” I tell Kylo.
“Mind if I join you?”
I scoot over, and he slips into bed beside me, wrapping his arms around me. When he touches me, everything inside me settles—the panicked energy, the low thrum of dread I always carry, the constant tension.
Somewhere between the losses and the heartbreak, he became the one person who truly saw me.
Who stayed.
Who chose me.
Everything else in my world feels uncertain.
He doesn’t.
The dining hall looks like it belongs in a royal palace, with vaulted ceilings, gold trim, and a chandelier that glimmers overhead.
“Have a seat.” Elijah gestures toward the table. “My kitchen staff whipped up pasta. Word is, it’s the twins’ favorite.”
He has his own kitchen staff?
“That’s so thoughtful. Thank you, Elijah. You didn’t have to go through all this trouble,” I say.
The long table is covered in pasta, garlic bread, and bottles of wine.
“Nonsense. You’re our guests, new to my compound, and we have plenty to celebrate.”
Kylo and I take our seats while everyone fills their plates.
“How are you feeling, late bloomer?” Elijah calls across the dining table.
“Late bloomer?” I quip, one brow raised.
Seraphina swats Elijah’s arm. “Don’t tease her.”
“Late bloomer is fitting,” Leo adds with a smirk, twirling pasta around his fork.
Elijah grins as he digs into his meatballs. “Your powers showed up late to the party. It happens to the best of us.”
“She may be a late bloomer, but she’s one hell of a fighter,” Carter jumps in.
Seraphina elbows her husband playfully. “She could probably kick your ass.”
Elijah snorts. “Yeah, right.”
Laughter bubbles around the table.
“You don’t think Lia could beat you?” Kylo asks, a challenge sharpening his expression.
Elijah points his fork across the table. “I don’t think you could beat me.”
“Oh, here we go.” Zayne leans back in his chair and crosses his arms. “I say the three of you should duel. Then we’ll know once and for all whose ego is justified.”
“Please.” Seraphina twirls her wine glass. The red sloshes near the rim. “Lia would siphon your powers in seconds. Obvious winner.”
“Who said telepaths are the strongest anyway?” Leo says. “Carter, Zayne, and I would wipe you all out in hand-to-hand.”
Kylo’s eyes dance with amusement. “Try it.”
I’ve seen them all fight. They’re strong, no doubt.
But Kylo? He’d win. No question.
“Easy, sweetheart. Keep talking like that and I might blush.”
Elijah snorts. “Dial it back, Lia. His ego’s big enough.”
“Both of you, stop reading my thoughts!” I laugh, covering my face.
“What now?” Zayne groans. “This is exactly why I don’t like hanging out with telepaths.”
“Lia thinks Kylo would win,” Elijah announces like it’s breaking news.
Kylo shrugs. “I would.”
“Remember who trained you,” Carter says dryly.
“All right, all right.” Seraphina laughs. “This is getting ridiculous. It doesn’t matter who’s stronger. We won because we worked together. Every single one of us brought something vital to the table.”
Elijah leans over and kisses her cheek. “You’re right, babe.”
I glance around the table—at the smiles, the laughter.
No imminent doom. No bloodshed. No ticking clock.
Sunlight after years of rain.
“What are you smiling about?” Leo nudges me with his elbow.
“I’m grateful for all of you and this dinner.”
“Lia.” He grins crookedly. “Don’t start with the mushy stuff again.”
“I’ll be mushy if I want to. We earned this peace.”
Seraphina raises her wine glass. “Cheers to that.”
We all raise our glasses and clink them together. “Cheers!”
I wouldn’t be here without the people sitting around this table.
Without Carter and Kylo, Leo and I never would’ve had a second chance to reclaim our freedom, right the wrongs done to us, and discover there’s more to living than surviving.
My gaze drifts to Kylo.
Now that the war is over, I’m terrified he won’t need me.
What’s left for him now that he’s free?
“Excuse us.” Kylo takes my hand and leads me from the dining hall.
He pulls me into a training room and closes the door.
“You’re wondering what’s left for me?” He backs me against the wall, pinning my wrists above my head as he presses his body into mine. “It’s you.”
He kisses me with bruising hunger, and I surrender, my body melting into him.
“Kylo—”
Another fierce kiss devours the thought. “I don’t care where we go next,” he breathes against my lips. “As long as you’re the one standing beside me.”
Point made.
I smile against his lips. “I’m exactly where I need to be.”
“You’re not alone anymore,” he promises.
A loud thud echoes from the corner of the room.
Kylo shifts, placing himself between me and the sound.
Carter stands in the doorway, eyes grim.
“What happened?” Kylo barks.
“It’s Blair and Draven. They escaped.”
Leo walks in behind him, his face drained of color. “Elijah pulled up the security footage from the holding wing. We know who broke them out.”
“Who?” Kylo demands.
Leo’s expression twists into pure, unadulterated rage. “Julian.”
The end… for now.