Elara's POV
Dawn comes too fast.
I don't sleep. Can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I see Theron's smile as he poisoned me. See the High Priestess's cold eyes. See myself walking into a camp full of soldiers who want me dead.
Cassian doesn't sleep either. I know because I can feel him through the bond—awake, pacing, radiating fear and fury in equal measure.
When the first light breaks, Kieran calls everyone together.
"Change of plans," he announces.
My stomach drops. "What?"
"We're not doing the surrender trap." Kieran spreads a map on the table. "Too risky. Too many variables. One mistake and you're both dead."
Relief floods through me. Through the bond, I feel Cassian's matching emotion.
"Then what do we do?" Cassian asks.
Kieran points to different spots on the map. "These are safe houses across the realm. Resistance hideouts the Sanctum doesn't know about. We'll move you from house to house, staying ahead of the hunters."
"For how long?" I lean forward, studying the map. There must be twenty locations marked.
"As long as it takes." Kieran traces a route with his finger. "You move every two to three days. Never stay anywhere long enough for them to track you. My people will provide supplies, information, protection."
"You're asking us to run forever," Cassian says flatly.
"I'm asking you to stay alive." Kieran meets his eyes. "Unless you've found a way to break the curse?"
Silence.
"That's what I thought." Kieran continues. "The Sanctum has resources. Unlimited soldiers. Magic. Money. But they're slow. Bureaucratic. They need approval for everything. The resistance? We're fast. Flexible. We can move you before they even know you've left."
It makes sense. But something about it feels wrong.
"What about the people Theron threatened to burn?" I ask. "The civilian settlements?"
Kieran's jaw tightens. "We evacuated them overnight. Every family within ten miles. They're angry, but they're alive."
"And when Theron realizes we're not surrendering?"
"He'll chase you. Pull his forces away from here." Kieran's expression is grim. "That's the plan. Draw the Sanctum's attention while we rebuild our networks. Rescue more curse victims. Grow stronger."
"So we're bait," Cassian says.
"You're already bait. This just makes use of it strategically."
I look at the map. All those safe houses. All that running. "Is there really no way to break the curse?"
Both men exchange looks.
"Tell her," Cassian says quietly.
Kieran sighs. "There might be. Ancient texts mention a ritual that can sever curse bonds. But the information is locked in the Sanctum's deepest vault. The Archive of Forbidden Knowledge."
"Then we break in and steal it," I say immediately.
"That's suicide," Kieran counters. "The Archive is inside the main Sanctum temple. Protected by hundreds of soldiers, magical wards, traps. Nobody's ever broken in and survived."
"Cassian did it sixty years ago," I point out. "That's how you found the partial solution."
"I barely made it out alive," Cassian admits. "And they've tripled security since then. It's impossible now."
"So our options are run forever or die trying to break the curse." I slump in my chair. "Great choices."
"There's a third option." Kieran hesitates. "But you'll both hate it."
"What?" we ask together.
"Kill Theron. Publicly. Make it clear what happens to Sanctum commanders who fail their rituals." Kieran leans forward. "His death would send a message. Make others afraid to hunt you. Buy you time."
The idea makes me sick. "I'm not a murderer."
"He murdered you first," Kieran points out.
"That doesn't make it right!"
"No. But it makes it survival." Kieran's voice is hard. "The Sanctum plays by different rules, Elara. If you want to beat them, you have to be willing to—"
Three sharp knocks sound at the door.
Everyone freezes.
Kieran's hand goes to his weapon. His soldiers move silently to positions around the room, ready to fight.
"That's the enemy signal," Kieran whispers. "Someone's warning us."
"Warning us about what?" Cassian pulls me behind him.
The knocks come again. Three sharp raps. Urgent.
Kieran moves to the door carefully. "Who's there?"
A muffled voice answers. Female. Panicked. "Let me in! Please! They're right behind me!"
"Don't open it," one of the soldiers hisses. "It's a trap."
"She's using the resistance password." Kieran's hand hovers over the door handle. "If she's one of ours and we leave her out there—"
"She dies," the woman's voice cries. "Please! They're coming! I can hear them!"
Through the bond, I feel Cassian's conflict. His instinct to help warring with his need to protect me.
"Open it," I say.
Everyone looks at me.
"If she's resistance and we leave her to die, we're no better than the Sanctum." I step forward. "Open the door."
Kieran hesitates one more second. Then nods.
He throws open the door.
A woman stumbles inside—young, bleeding from a cut on her arm, eyes wide with terror. She's wearing resistance colors.
"Thank the gods," she gasps. "They're right behind me. At least twenty soldiers. Maybe more. You have to run!"
"Who are you?" Kieran demands.
"Mira. From the eastern safe house. They found us. Killed everyone. I barely escaped." She's shaking. "They know about this place. They're coming!"
Cassian moves to the window. "She's right. I see torches in the forest. Moving this way."
"How?" Kieran's face goes pale. "This location is secret. Only five people know about it."
Mira's eyes fill with tears. "They have a traitor. Someone in the resistance is selling information to the Sanctum. That's how they found the eastern house. How they found me. How they found you."
The words hit like a bomb.
A traitor. In the resistance.
"We need to leave," Cassian says urgently. "Now."
"Agreed." Kieran starts grabbing supplies. "Everyone move! Take only what you can carry!"
His soldiers scramble into action. I stand frozen, trying to process.
A traitor. Someone who knows where all the safe houses are. Where we're going. What we're planning.
We're not just being hunted by the Sanctum.
We're being hunted by someone on our own side.
"Elara!" Cassian grabs my hand. "We have to go!"
I let him pull me toward the back door. Mira follows, still bleeding, still terrified.
Behind us, the front door explodes inward.
Sanctum soldiers pour through—not twenty. Fifty. A hundred. Too many.
"GO!" Kieran shouts, throwing up a magical barrier to buy us time.
We run.
Out the back door. Into the forest. Soldiers' shouts echo behind us.
But as we run, something nagging bothers me. Something about Mira. About her story.
She said the eastern safe house was destroyed. Everyone killed.
But she escaped.
One person. Against Sanctum soldiers.
How?
I glance back at her running beside us. Her cut is shallow. Not deep enough to have bled much.
And her eyes—they're scared. But underneath the fear, something else glints.
Something that looks like triumph.
My blood runs cold.
"Cassian," I gasp. "Mira—she's—"
Mira's hand shoots out. Magic blazes from her palm—golden Sanctum magic.
The blast hits Kieran square in the back.
He falls without a sound.
"NO!" Cassian spins, shadows erupting.
But Mira is already running. Back toward the soldiers. Back to safety.
"The girl is marked!" she shouts to the Sanctum forces. "Heading north! Don't lose her!"
She was the traitor all along.
And we led her right to us.