The prophecy made sense on day four.
Not because anyone explained it better or because I had some mystical vision—just because I was lying in bed at three AM unable to sleep while my brain chewed on the same problem from sixteen different angles and suddenly the pieces clicked.
I sat up so fast Kael woke instantly, already reaching for weapons that weren't there.
"What's wrong?" His voice was rough with sleep and alpha-alert.
"The prophecy." My hands were shaking and I fisted them in the sheets. "It says the Hybrid Queen will either unite the factions or the demon will consume them all. Right?"
"Right." He sat up fully now, eyes sharp despite the hour. "What about it?"
"Everyone's been interpreting it as me fighting the demon. Stopping it. Killing it before it kills us." The words came fast, tumbling over each other. "But what if that's not what it means?"
Through the bond his confusion mixed with dawning understanding.
