Hayley’s POV

A heaviness still clung to the air as if no war had ever taken place here. Relief surged through me as the rogue leader lay dead, but it did not last. I knew this wasn’t the end.

Aiden stood to my left, a sturdy presence. And I could still see the weight of that fight in him, as if what it cost him was etched into his very soul—a pain we all knew so well when he came home to us living. Our fingers laced together in a mutual gesture of comfort, and I instantly mourned.

I ventured a suggestion in hushed tones: "We better go see how...