Chapter 21 - The First Change
Athena woke with heat under her skin.
Not the kind from too many blankets.
Not the kind from a warm room.
This was deeper.
Like something inside her had been lit on fire while she slept.
Her eyes flew open and she sucked in a sharp breath. Her heart was racing, pounding hard enough that she could feel it in her throat. Sweat clung lightly to the back of her neck, to her collarbone, to the inside of her wrists.
She threw the blankets off and sat up quickly.
The room felt too small.
Too warm.
Too quiet.
She pressed a hand against her chest, trying to steady herself.
Her pulse thudded wildly beneath her palm.
"What is wrong with me..." she whispered.
She stood too fast and had to grab the edge of the dresser to keep her balance.
The stone floor should have felt freezing.
Instead, it felt grounding.
Comforting.
Like her body recognized it.
Her senses felt... sharp.
Too sharp.
She could hear the faint crackle of torches outside her door.
Footsteps somewhere far below in the fortress.
Voices murmuring through walls of solid stone like they were standing just outside the room.
Her breath caught.
She moved toward the mirror slowly, like she was afraid of what she might see.
Her reflection stared back at her.
Olive skin flushed.
Dark hair tangled from sleep.
Brown eyes.
Normal.
She leaned closer.
And froze.
A thin ring of gold shimmered around her pupils.
Barely visible.
But there.
It flickered once like sunlight catching metal.
Then vanished.
Athena stumbled back from the mirror as if it had burned her.
"No..."
Her breathing became uneven.
Her hands trembled at her sides.
She felt restless.
Like she had been sitting still for too long.
Like her body needed to move.
Needed space.
Needed air.
She didn't even think before moving toward the door.
She pulled it open and stepped into the hallway barefoot.
Her feet carried her quickly through the corridors, past torches and stone walls, down turns she didn't remember learning.
She didn't know how she knew where to go.
She just did.
Her heart pounded faster with every step.
She passed servants who glanced at her but didn't stop her.
She didn't stop walking.
She needed outside.
The doors to the courtyard came into view.
She pushed them open and stepped into the cold morning air.
Her lungs filled deeply, greedily.
Relief washed over her so fast it made her knees weak.
She closed her eyes.
Listened.
The wind moving through the mountain.
Distant birds.
And beneath it all...
A low, steady presence she could feel in her bones.
She opened her eyes.
And saw him.
Silas stood in the center of the courtyard.
Still.
Watching her like he had known she would come.