Chapter 258: Big training montage

Lia

It was a lot of walking after we ran into that strange creature. More monsters showed up—shadowy, writhing things that didn’t move right—and the twins handled them like it was nothing. No hesitation. No fear. Just clean, easy power, like they’d been doing it their whole lives.

Was this entire trip just one big training montage for them?

I wasn’t sure. None of us were.

Maybe we were here to prepare for Solen. Maybe this was just the final obstacle course before the real nightmare began. Either way, it felt like we were background characters in whatever mission the twins were on. Not leaders. Not even equals. Just extras trying not to get picked off before the final act.

The worst part? We were stuck here.

Stuck in the Sunless Realm. No doors. No way back. Just endless walking through fog and silence, waiting for something—anything—to tell us what the hell we were supposed to be doing besides “follow the toddlers.”

Every so often, the air would shift. Thicken. A low hum would start vibrating in the ground, like the realm itself was… breathing. Watching. Getting closer.

I didn’t say anything, but I started counting how many times it happened. Five so far.

I kept my focus on the twins. Colby was doing that thing where he pretended to be calm but kept checking over his shoulder every thirty seconds. Matt was quiet. Too quiet.

And Jesse? Jesse looked like he was memorizing every rock and tree and shadow. Like he was preparing for whatever would come next. Or maybe just trying to stay sane.

Me? I was trying not to scream. Or laugh. Same thing at this point.

“Are we sure they know where they’re going?” I finally asked.

Gemma didn’t even glance back. “We go where the realm tells us.”

“That’s a super comforting answer,” I muttered. “Love taking orders from the haunted void.”

Rowan looked over his shoulder, eyes glowing faintly. “The void listens too.”

I raised both hands. “Okay. I’m done talking now.”

We kept walking. Through the dark. Through the cold. Through the sense that this place wanted to eat us alive, but was waiting until we were ripe.

I had to trust that my twins knew what we were going to do. Knew what they were going to do. When we stopped for a break, I sat down and pulled each one of them onto my lap. They cuddled me, asking like actual children. Sometimes I missed times like this, and I was glad when they were willing to indulge me.

Or if they wanted to simply indulge in this behavior themselves.

I didn’t know, and honestly, I didn’t care. The three of us sat there for a while until I realized that three of us should get up to do our best to find our way out of here.

After many other battles later we ended up wandering around, unsure of where to go. But then the air shifted again.

One second, we were staring at the unstable rift crackling behind us, and the next, a soft breeze passed through the scorched ground like something had just stepped in. No flash, no dramatic music. Just a quiet presence.

I turned.

“She’s back,” I whispered.

The little girl was standing barefoot on the charred stone, her white dress untouched, eyes glowing faintly. She looked no older than eleven, but the weight in her gaze made my bones ache.

It was so strange to see her again.

But a portal had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. It was standing there, with her basically gesturing for us to walk inside. I blinked slowly, looking at the rest of my mate. Were they seeing what I was seeing?

It was good to know what they did see it because they were staring at it with as strange a look as I was.

“You made it,” she said softly. Her voice was like wind over broken glass.

Colby stiffened beside me. “You again.”

She tilted her head. “Don’t worry. I’m not here to hurt you.”

“Forgive us for not taking that at face value,” Jesse muttered.

Rain leaned slightly behind me. “She freaks me out,” he whispered.

“Join the club,” Matt said.

The girl ignored them, eyes fixed on me.

“I came to seal the rift,” she said. “So you can go home.”

I blinked. “You can close it? For good?”

“Yes. But once it’s shut, it stays shut. No coming back.”

“Fine by me,” Colby said under his breath. “Place sucks anyway.”

“Speak for yourself,” Rain muttered. “I left a whole pizza in the safehouse fridge.”

Matt sighed. “Focus.”

The girl stepped closer. “But—” her voice sharpened, “you must understand—Solen is waking. The point of the twins coming here was so they could prepare… and wake them up. They were always meant to wake them up, you know. It’s the only way to put a stop to this.”

This was the worst situation ever, but who was I to deny that it made sense for the twins to have to wake Solen up themselves if they were going to face them?

It was one of those win-or-lose situations you found yourself in. I hated it and feared for my twins, but there was no denying it,

The name landed like ice down my spine.

Matt stepped forward. “You’re sure?”

She didn’t answer. She just looked at him, like she was watching time unravel. “I felt it. It stirs under the ash. And when it rises, it will remember all of you.”

Rain groaned. “Oh, good. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear. Rounds out the week.”

Jesse crossed his arms. “We’re supposed to fight it. Again?”

“You’ll need to be ready,” she said. “Stronger. Smarter. Unified.”

Colby’s voice was tight. “We barely made it out last time.”

“And you’ll barely make it again,” she said, turning slightly. “But you will. If you’re together.”

Rain made a strangled sound. “Barely? That’s the inspiring message we’re going with?”

Matt rubbed the bridge of his nose. “She’s a cryptic ghost child, Rain. Be grateful she didn’t rhyme it.”

“I can try,” the girl offered, entirely serious. “But it would scare you more.”

Rain backed up a step. “No. No rhymes. No haunted preschool poetry, please.”

The girl’s gaze met mine again. Solid. Heavy.

“Lia,” she said, “you have to lead them. You always have.”

I swallowed hard. “No pressure, right?”

She tilted her head. “All pressure. But you carry it well.”

“Gee. Thanks.” I let out a shaky laugh. “Got any more riddles while you’re at it?”

“You’ve walked the shadows,” she said. “Now walk the fire.”

Rain leaned in and whispered, “Okay, is that poetry or a threat?”

“Both,” Jesse muttered.

The girl walked toward the rift. The very air bent around her like reality didn’t know what to do with her presence.

“You’ll feel it shut,” she said. “And when the fire shakes the sky again, don’t run.”

She turned her head, smiling faintly. “Fight.”

I looked at her. “Wait, who are you exactly?”

“Someone who could’ve stood up to Solen but failed. I have been waiting for the twins to put an end to him. Apologies for them to have to experience this at such a young age, but Solen can’t be held by his prison any longer. It’s either now or never.”

And then she stepped into the crackling light. The portal zipped closed like a tear in space being stitched shut with fire and stars—one flicker, then silence.

No more hum. No more heat. Just… gone.

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

“Well,” I said, voice a little too tight. “No going back now.”

Rain groaned dramatically. “I liked going back. Going back was safe. Going forward has Solen in it.”

Matt grunted. “Going forward is the only option.”

“We’re so screwed,” Rain muttered, kicking a pebble. “What does walk the fire even mean?”

“It means no one gets to sit this one out,” I said, my voice steadier than I felt. “Not anymore. No more hiding. No more hoping someone else handles it.”

Jesse stepped closer, his face serious for once. “We’re with you. All the way.”

Colby reached for my hand and squeezed it tightly. “And next time… we end it.”

The words echoed in the quiet, heavy with everything we’d seen—everything we still didn’t understand. My chest ached with it. The realm around us shimmered, shadows folding inward like they were swallowing their edges. A low pulse, like a heartbeat, moved through the ground beneath our feet.

Then it was gone.

And so were we.

The shift wasn’t dramatic. No roaring vortex or blinding light. Just one step. One blink. And suddenly—

We were home.

I looked back to see the portal being shut and the girl gone. It didn’t seem like we were ever going to get a true answer to who she was, but I was all right with that. She seemed like she was trying to do the right thing, trying to stop Solen.

The air was warmer. Real. The sky had color again—dull, cloudy, but still there. I could breathe without tasting static and ash. The ground beneath us was solid. Familiar.

We stood at the edge of the city, on the ridge that overlooked everything.

Rain turned in a slow circle. “Okay. Either this is a trap, or we made it out.”

“We made it,” I whispered. I didn’t know how I knew, but I did.

Matt dropped to the grass like his legs gave out. “Never thought I’d be so happy to see actual grass.”

I sighed softly. “Let’s hope Solen makes a move soon. I want to be able to get to normal life.”

Of course, this was going to mean we survived. No one knew if we was. But I hoped.