"I don't know," I admit finally. “But agreeing to go with him might have just saved countless lives. Isn’t that worth the risk?”

Raith leans his forehead against mine, eyes closed. He shakes his head slightly. “It should be. But it doesn’t feel worth it. Not to me. I wouldn’t trade you for a thousand lives, even if that makes me an asshole.”

“I won’t tell anyone if you don’t,” I say, biting the corner of my lip. “But it’s not as if Voss is a primal. He doesn’t know I have Typhon. If he thinks he can ambush me somehow or coerce me, Typhon will be there to protect me.”

“And so will I,” Raith says. “I’m following. Wherever he plans to take you.”

"We should talk to Bastian. He seemed to know something about Voss, or at least, his father does. Maybe he could give us an idea about what we’re walking into."

Raith's jaw tightens at the mention of Bastian, but he nods. "Fine. But not alone."

"Not alone," I agree, offering a small smile. "I'm starting to think you just like being around me, Hollow."

His expression softens, and he tucks a stray lock of hair behind my ear. "Maybe I do, Thorne."

Heat blooms in my chest at the gesture, at the warmth in his eyes. We stand there for a moment, suspended in a sphere of connection that feels increasingly like home.

"If you two are quite finished," Typhon interrupts, his tone dry, "perhaps we might consider strategizing for the Crucible? Given that it is rapidly approaching and will likely involve numerous attempts on our lives?"

I laugh despite myself, the tension of the meeting with Voss dissipating slightly. "We'll see if Bastian is willing to tell us anything. Then we should find the others, see what they've discovered about those weapons."

As we leave the alcove, I can't shake the feeling that we're standing on the edge of something momentous, something that will change us all irrevocably. The Crucible, Voss's mysterious ruin, the siphons' interest in us—all threads in a tapestry still with no full picture in sight.

But with Raith's steady presence beside me, with our tether pulsing between us like a promise, I find I'm not afraid. I feel strong. I feel capable. And I feel ready to face whatever is coming.

32

The dining hall falls to a hush as I enter with Raith at my side. Hundreds of eyes track our movements across the stone floor, conversations stuttering to silence before erupting into fierce whispers. I can almost feel the speculation rippling through the room like a physical wave, even among the upper-year students who must have caught wind of what was going on.

"Dramatic as always. You would think these humans had never seen someone return from the dead before."

I smile at Typhon's comment. "To be fair, I was missing for days. And Raith's face..."