bChapter /bb95 /b

Elliot

I didn’t know what warmth felt like until I touched her hand. Not warmth like fire or the sun. I’d felt that before. It burned. This was different. It wrapped around me and didn’t ask for anything in return. It didn’t test me. Didn’t take. It just… held on. I hadn’t spoken much before today. I didn’t need to. In the ce Marcus kept me, words weren’t usedb. /bOnly bspells/b. Screams. Silenceb. /bThe kind bof /bsilence that filled your ears and stretched across days. I learned how to stay still. How to disappear, even when I was awake. But with her, Envy, I didn’t feel the need to vanish. When she asked me if I wanted toe with her, I just knew. So I held on, and when we stepped through the glowing portal, into a realm unlike any I’d seen before, I didn’t bfeel /bfear. Only curiosity. The Underworld wasn’t what I expected. It was quietb, /bbut not empty. Stillb, /bbut not dead. There were rivers of silver light and ck stone carved with stories that moved when you blinked. There were trees made of bone and fire that whispered when the wind passed through them. There were stars in the sky and bthe /bair thrummed with music bI /bcould only feel in my chest, and if was mine. Ours. Somewhere for me to belong. Envy squeezed my hand as we stepped onto the ck marble pathb, /band the others walked around usb. /bHer mates. bNoah /bruffled my hair again. Levi tossed me a piece bof /bsomething sweet and sticky and told me it was candy, but he called it “hell bark” and winked. I didn’t know if it was a joke. It tasted like cinnamon andva. I liked it. In the great hallb, /bthere was a seat next to Envy’s. A smaller one. I didn’t sit at tables beforeb. /bI sat on the floor, in silenceb. /bBut Xavier pulled the chair out for me like it was the most normal thing in

the world.

He didn’t tell me I needed to be quiet or still. Just smiled and said, “You don’t have to eat if you don’t want to. You can just sit. bOr /by.b” /by. That word kept circling in my head. I’d never done that before. Not that I remember. I’d seen other children in dreams, sometimes, blurry ones,ughing, running, building things. But I didn’t know how it worked. Later, in the fun room, there were glowing rocks that floated when bI /btouched them, a slide made of smoke, and something called a projector that showed moving pictures on the wall. I just stood thereb, /bstaring at it all.

“Hey, Haiden saidb, /bcrouching beside me. “You can touch stuffb. /bBreak it, even. We’ll fix it.”

“I don’t want to break anythingb,/bb” /bI whispered.

b“/bYou’ve already fixed more than you’ll ever break, kid.”

That made something flutter in my chest. I didn’tugh yetb. /bBut I almost did when Maddox used his ws to carve a dragon into the wall, and then Levi made it breathe glitter fire. Noah tried to catch it and fell on his ass. Everyoneughed, and when Envy looked at me and asked, “What do you think, Elliot?”

I said the truth.

“bI /bthink… bI /blike it here.”

Because for the first time, I got to decide what I likedb, /band that? That was magic.

“Do you want to make a bedroom? Noah asked gently, kneeling beside meb, /bhis eyes level with mine.

1 blinked at him. “Make a bedroomb?/bb” /b

He nodded with a warm grin. “Well, yeahb, /byou’re going to need your own room here… and one at the packhouse in Red Moon. Somewhere that’s just byours/bb./b”

I looked around, unsure. The idea of owning somethingb, /blet alone creating it…felt like a foreignnguage. “How… how would I make a bedroom?b” /b

Noah’s smile softened beven /bmoreb, /bhis voice dropping like he was letting me in on a bsecret/b. “Well… it seems you’ve be our little prince.”

Before I could ask what he meant, he held up a hand and conjured a mirror from the air. It shimmeredb, /bsoft and silver like moonlight on still water. He tilted it toward me, and my breath caught. Perched on top bof /bmy mess bof /bblonde hair was a crownb, /bnot sharp and hard, not cold or bcruel/bb, /bbut soft–edged, like smoke and shadow. It shimmered between colors, glowing faintly with the same magic I’d felt when I touched Envy’s hand.

It looked like theirs. Like Noah’s. Levi’s. Haiden’s. Xavier’s. Like hers.

I turned to look up at him, eyes wide. “Is thatb… /brealb?/bb” /b

He nodded. “Real as your heartbeat. You earned that, Elliot. You helped save this world. Now you get to shape a piece of it. Start with your roomb./bb” /b

I stared at my reflection a moment longer, then slowly looked around the empty stone chamber they’d brought me to. The walls shimmered like obsidian, alive with faint glowing runes, and I realizedb… /bthey were waiting. Waiting for me.

1:07 PM bP /b

I turned back to Noah. “Can I have… booksb?/bb” /b

He let out a relieved chuckle. “You can have as many as you want. Any kind you want.”

“And… stars on the ceiling? Not painted, real ones. That move.b” /b

He gave a yful bow. “Your wish is mymand, little prince.b” /b

“And a bed,” I whispered. “One that doesn’t feel like stoneb./b”

b“/bYou’ll have thefiest one in both realmsb./bb” /b

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I hesitated, then added shyly, “And bmaybe /ba window? Even if it’s just pretend.”

At that, Noah leaned in and whispered, “Here, kid? Nothing’s pretend. Not anymore.”

And with a flick of his fingers, he passed a glowing crystal into my hands. “You hold this, and you imagine it. Whatever you picture, the room will make for you. You’ll be able to use magic easier this way until we teach you a little more.”

I took the crystal in both hands. It was warm. Like her hand had been. I closed my eyes and for the first time in my life… I let myself dream.

It pulsed gently, like a second heartbeat, and warmth curled up into my fingers. I didn’t know what to imagine first; my thoughts were too bfast/bb, /btoo full, but the crystal was patient. It waited. I opened my eyes.

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