The sun was bleeding out across the horizon when Bella reached the edge of the training field. The air still held the scent of smoke and steel; the warriors had been sparring until moments ago, but now they lingered in uneasy clusters, watching her.

She had stopped trying to hide the glow in her eyes. Since the prophecy, there was no use pretending. The golden shimmer came and went like the tide—alive, aware, warning.

Alfred stood in the center of the field, stripped to his waist, the last ...