bChapter /bb89 /b

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The Underworld is changing. You can feel it in the air, thick with ash and something else. Anticipation. It’s like even this ce knows what’sing. We gather in the obsidian hall. The only ce still stable enough to hold our presence without magic unraveling around us. Flickering blue fire dances across the ancient torches, casting twisted shadows across stone pirs. Noah stands beside me, tense but grounded. Haiden and Levi arrive seconds after, stepping through the portal like men who’ve seen ghosts and brought bpieces /bof them back. Xavier waits near the altarb, /bhis expression unreadable. I sense the Underworld in him, woven through his veins like smoke. He nods bas /bwe approach, but doesn’t speak. He’s waiting. We all are. Levi is the one who finally breaks the silence.

“We found…b” /bhe saysb, /bvoice hoarse. “A mass graveb. /bChildren, like Envy. Sacrificed. Shackled in death.”

Xavier’s jaw tightens. “How many?”

Levi doesn’t answer right away. Just looks at me. “Too many.”

Haiden steps forward, arms crossed, eyes like steel. “But it wasn’t just a sacrifice. It was a test site. Marcus was refining the ritual. Learning how to manipte not just the Veil, but the souls bound to it. It wasn’t enough for him to open the realms. He wanted to control them.”

Noah swears under his breath. “Gods.”

breathe out slowly, the weight of the stasis chamber still pressing on my skin. “And he almost did. There’s a child still alive, suspended in magicb. /bOne of the originals. And the witch who saved him… she’s barely holding the spell together. But it’s breaking. Cracking at the seamsb./bb” /b

Levi nces to Xavier. “We think the grave sites are acting as anchors. They’re fractured, but still pulsing with the magic used to tear the veil open. If we can steady themb, /beven temporarily, it might give Envy enough time to reshape the Veil without everything copsing.”

“How?b” /bXavier asksb. /bHis voice is quiet, but sharp. “How do we stabilize something that’s already failing?b” /b

Levi lifts a glowing rune from his pocket. “Each site holds a fragment of the original spell. The runesb, /bthe bones, the residual blood magic, it’s all part of the same framework. If we collect enough of these fragments, we might be able to create a new foundation beneath the existing tear. Not repair it, but hold it long enough for Envy to weave her own magic through the cracksb./bb” /b

“Like scaffolding,” bI /bmurmurb. /bb“/bTemporary structure until the new Veil is born.”

He nods. “Exactly. It won’t hold foreverb. /bBut it doesn’t need to. Just long enough.”

Haiden adds, “We need an army. We can’t do this alone.”

Xavier finally speaks. “And if we fail?”

The chamber falls quiet.

Then I lift my chin. “Then bthe /brealms fall into beach /bother, and no one survives the war thates after. But we’re not going to fail.”

Noah brushes his fingers against mine. “Because we’vee too far to let them win.”

A ripple of dark energy pulses beneath bour /bfeet. The Veil shudders. A reminder that time is running out.

I step forward. “Then here’s the n: I’ll finish marking you all. It will unlock thest of my power, but before you gather the fragments and, the armies. I’ll create a new veil. I’ll give this world, all of them, a new boundary. A new beginning. We’ll need to prepare people in the mortal realm; our pack will need to reach out to as many bas /bpossible to defend and prepare themselves.”

Levi nods. “We’ll buy you bthe /btime.”

Haiden rests a hand on my shoulder, his voice low. “And we’ll stand with you at the edge of the world, if that’s what it takes.”

Levi

iden and I don’t waste time. We leave the Underworld through a portal, straight to the grave sites we’ve marked. I clutch the rune tighter than I mean to. It still hums with something ancient. Hungry. I don’t think it wants to be used again, but it remembers the spell, remembers the blood, and it wants resolution. Haiden speaks little as we move through realms and territory. There’s no need. We’ve fought together too long. When we find the next site, another forest clearing twisted by magic band /bdeath, we work in rhythm. I dig through theyers of soil, ash, and memory. Another rune, another whisperb, /banother child’s voice. Each piece we gather brings the spell closer to bnce, and each one costs a little more of our souls.

1:06 PM bP /b

bNoah /b

The portal spits me out near the Red Moon pack border just after dusk. The guards at the perimeter pause only for a second before they recognize me. Their relief is immediate. Their fearb, /bpalpable.

b“/bbGo /bget my father,” I say. “Now. And my mother too. I want Future Alpha Zion from the Tris pack and his future Beta Theo, discreetly informed. Everyone. This isn’t just about our pack anymore.”

The hall is full within the hour. My parents are there, weathered by war and waiting. Council members, warriorsb, /bcivilians, even pups clinging to their mothers, all watching me. I speak inly.

b“/bMarcus is going to tear down the veil between life and death. The magic that holds the realms apart bis /bcracking. You’ve probably felt it: dreams ghosts, nightmares, things in the shadows.”

Murmurs rippleb. /b

“Luna Envy’s going to rebuild the Veil. But it’s going to fall first. When it does… the realms will bleed together. You’ll see spirits. Beasts. Gods, even. And Marcus will use the chaos to try and control the aftermath.”

I take a breath. “We need every able–bodied person prepared to fight. Defend. Protect the young. Evacuate the border towns. You don’t have daysb, /byou have hoursb./bb” /b

My father stands. “You have our army. You always haveb./bb” /b

bXavier /b

The Veil shifts like a lung exhaling. I stand near its edge with Layah beside me. Her fur is warmb, /bbut the magic radiating off her is colder now, sharpened by purpose.

bi“/i/biYou /iifeel /iithat/ii?/ibi” /i/bshe asksb, /beyes on the trembling light.

I nod. “bIt’s /bthinningb. /bEnvy doesn’t have long.”

We don’t speak again. We watch. We guard. We wait.

bEnvy /b

1 portal to the royal kingdom just before sunrise. The air here feels heavier, toob, /bthoughced with more eleganceb. /bIt’s quieter. Regal. My mother, brothers and grandmother wait for me inside the inner sanctumb, /bnked by guards I barely nce at. Their expressions shift when they see my

face.

“It’s time,” bI /bsay simply. “I need everyst person you’ve got that can fight.”

Mum steps forward, no hesitation. “What bexactly /bdo you need from usb?/bb“/bb. /b

“Power,” I answer. “But more than that, loyaltyb. /bUnity, When the Veil bfalls/bb, /bI’ll bbe /brewriting the boundaries between all realms. There will be a war of all the realms, and I have a feeling those of the underworld are going to fight hard to stay.”

She nods onceb, /bthe steel in her eyes reflecting mineb. /b“Then we gather our bforces/b.”

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