Chapter 117

Elodie

The academy gates closed behind us with a sound that felt final.

Stone grinding against stone.

A line drawn.

For a long moment, neither of us moved.

The road ahead stretched wide and unfamiliar, cutting through rolling land that dipped into forest and rose again toward distant hills. No walls. No watchtowers. No rules carved into stone.

Just sky.

Randy exhaled slowly, like he’d been holding his breath for days. “I thought they were going to kill you.”

“So did ...