Chapter 30

• I stared at the silver hairpin in my hand for what felt like hours. It was cold now, dulled with ash, but the edges still shimmered faintly when moonlight touched it. Even after everything... it had survived. Just like me. Logan sat on a rock which was a getaway, watching the trees like he expected something to leap out at us. Maybe he was giving me space. Or maybe he just didn’t know what to say. Neither did I.
• The ruins of the Crimson Moon estate surrounded us—jagged stone, broken beams, scattered bones of a place that once made me feel small. Now it just looked tired. Like even the earth had exhaled after holding its breath too long. I closed my fingers around the hairpin. He left it for me. Kelvin. Why? Why now?
• "You okay?" Logan’s voice was low, careful. I didn’t answer. I just stood, slipping the pin into the pocket of my cloak and brushing ash off my sleeves. My body still ached from the power burst, and my ribs felt like glass, but I could move. I could breathe. That was enough. “I’m not going back to the camp tonight,” I said quietly. Logan rose. “Where, then?”