Ivy pov

I gasped as the pressure shifted again. Not violently this time. Not suddenly.

It settled, heavy and deliberate, pressing into my chest as if the Circle had finished listening and had finally decided.

My knees shook, but I did not fall. I refused to.

“What do you want,” I said aloud, my voice unsteady but clear. “You said you would spare my son.”

The land answered without sound, yet every word burned through me.

Mercy has a cost.

Lucien stepped closer to me, his presence firm at ...