Page 42 of Shadows of Change

Finally, I reach my room, slamming the door behind me and leaning against it, breathing heavily. The familiar space shouldbe comforting, but tonight it feels like a cage. Moonlight streams through the stained-glass window, casting colorful shadows across the floor. My bed, with its mountain of pillows and thick comforter, beckons invitingly, but sleep feels impossible.

Mouse materializes beside me, his form still larger than usual, radiating protective energy. He nudges my hand, a low whine escaping him.

"I'm fine," I tell them, collapsing onto my bed. But even as I say it, I can feel the lie taking root, threatening to grow into something I can't control.

In the darkness, my shadows whisper their warnings, and for the first time, I wonder if I've been listening to the wrong voice all along.

27. Kaia

The knock on my door this morning isn't so much a knock as it is a battering ram of impatience wrapped in noise.

"Kaia!" Finn's voice booms through the wood, too loud for this hour. "Open up! I know you're in there!"

I groan and bury my face deeper into my pillow. If I ignore him, maybe he'll evaporate into the ether.

"Don't make me break down the door," Finn threatens, though he sounds more amused than serious. "Because I will. And then Malrik will lecture me, and I don't think either of us wants that."

Mouse growls softly from his perch near the window, and my shadows twist protectively around the bed. Bob hovers near the door like he's sizing it up for barricade duty.

"Fine!" Finn's voice grows dramatically tragic. "If this is how it ends, so be it. Alone, abandoned—left to wallow in ignorance. Oh, the humanity!"

The door bursts open.

"What the—?" I sit up, blinking as Finn practically dances into the room, his energy exploding into the space like a rogue spell.

"Where were you last night?" he demands, dropping onto the foot of my bed with all the grace of a sandbag. My shadows scatter in irritation, and Bob ripples indignantly as Finn’s sock-clad foot nearly lands on him.

"Sleeping?" I reply, still groggy.

"Liar," Finn snorts, bouncing slightly on the mattress. His hair’s a mess, his shirt half-tucked, and his socks don’t match.

Quick footsteps in the hallway cut through his interrogation, and Aspen appears in the doorway, breathing a little harder than usual.

"Finn, you can’t just—" Aspen takes in the scene and sighs. "Of course you already broke in."

"I knocked!" Finn says, throwing himself backward across my feet like an indignant cat.

"That wasn't knocking," a deeper voice chimes from behind Aspen. Torric fills the doorway like an impenetrable wall, still glistening from morning training. "That was an assault on architecture."

"What are you doing here?" I ask Torric, pulling my legs away from Finn.

"Following him," Torric answers with a jerk of his thumb. "Besides, we all saw you when you came in last night."

"I told you I’m fine!"

"Then why were upset when you came in last night?" Finn asks, propping himself up on his elbows.

"I wasn’t—"

"She was with Darian," another voice cuts in. Malrik steps into view, his silver eyes pinning me like a spotlight. Unlikethe others, he looks composed, which somehow makes the accusation worse.

Silence falls. Even Finn stills.

"How do you know that?" I ask, my voice sharper than intended.

Malrik doesn’t flinch. "I know a lot of things. Like how Darian isn’t who he pretends to be."

"What’s that supposed to mean?" Torric demands, his presence heating the room like a spark ready to ignite.

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