Chapter– Beneath the White Feather

Nico didn’t wake up that night.

Or the next morning.

His fever came and went in waves, and sometimes his body trembled like he was caught between fire and frost. I sat beside his bed, gripping his cold hand while Lucien stood at the edge of the room, arms crossed, jaw clenched with helpless fury.

The feather still lay on the bedside table.

White.

Weightless.

Unnatural.

It hadn’t disintegrated like the others. It stayed there, as if waiting.

“Something’s changing in him,” I whispered.

Lucien didn’t answer, but the flicker in his eyes told me he was thinking it too. This wasn’t just the First...