Chapter 207: Let Me See, Still Alive

Chapter 207: Let Me See, Still Alive
Evelyn's POV

The morning after the party, I stood on the training grounds doing warmup stretches. Dawn had just broken, and the air still carried moisture.

I tested the mind link out of habit. The signal was clearer than yesterday. Just a little, like listening underwater versus through glass, but it was definitely improving.

The lockdown was loosening.

The change had been noticeable over the past two days. Every morning the signal got sharper, and Cyrus's monitoring equipment had gradually restored a few channels. External communications were still spotty though.

"Got three surveillance feeds back online," Cyrus said, walking out from the equipment room with a tablet. "External signal's still unstable, but at least we're getting echoes now."

"Faster than I expected." I stood up, rolling my shoulders.

"Probably because the core people woke up," Cyrus said. "The whole network's collapsing from the center out."

A warrior approached, looking uncomfortable. I recognized him—he'd been controlled too, only recovered in the past couple days.

"Evelyn, can I say something?"

I stopped moving, waiting.

"About what happened before..." He paused, expression conflicted. "I kept feeling like something was off, but I couldn't say what. Like something in my brain was filtering out all my doubts. Everything you said made sense, but it also felt wrong somehow."

"It's over now," I said.

"Thank you." He nodded and walked away.

That conversation had repeated many times over the past two days. Each time made me understand how terrifying that layer of magic had been. It wasn't simple control—it made people think they were still reasoning normally, just happened to always reach the "right" conclusion.

Disgusting, my wolf said.

Yeah.

By the third morning, the training grounds were pretty packed.

I led about twenty Sentinels through coordination drills. They broke into groups, practicing teamwork and reaction time. Milo assisted with explanations on the side, but he was obviously distracted.

His eyes were unfocused when he talked. Someone had to call his name twice before he'd snap back, wearing this "I'm fine" expression that fooled nobody. You could see something weighing on him underneath.

Magnus leaned against the fence at the field's edge, arms crossed, quietly watching. He'd been coming every day these past few days. Didn't say much, occasionally pointed out issues with Sentinels' movements. Brief and direct, but he was himself again.

Lucian sat on the railing next to Magnus, legs swinging, expression thoughtful. He looked at Milo, then at me.

Halfway through training, two Sentinels botched their coordination and nearly crashed into each other. I called them off, but Milo didn't react, still staring blankly at something in the distance.

I gave everyone a five-minute break.

Lucian hopped down and walked over to me, voice low. "How long's he been like this?"

"Since Nadia left."

"Oh." He paused, legs still swinging. "You ever think losing someone actually turns you into a different person?"

I glanced at him, thinking about how Magnus had looked under control, and said nothing.

Lucian didn't continue either. Just reduced the swing of his legs.

He's been talking more these past few days, my wolf said.

Yeah, but always saying weird philosophical stuff.

Near the end of training, I had everyone do one final sprint drill. Milo stood next to me, staring at the field.

Mark's voice suddenly popped into the mind link, tone tight but controlled. Someone at the territory border. Not Brandon's people. Two of our acquaintances.

Who? I asked.

Mark paused two seconds. You should get Milo over here.

Milo had heard the conversation. He was already moving toward the border, steps getting faster, breaking into a run.

I followed. Magnus and Lucian came too, others gradually joining in.

I had a guess, but didn't dare confirm it.

---

The territory border entrance had two figures standing there.

The one in front was Nadia.

She had a bulging pack on her back, messy hair, obvious travel fatigue on her face, but her eyes were bright. Those amber eyes swept across the crowd before landing on Milo's face.

Milo ran up to her, stopped, said nothing, and just pulled her into a hug.

Tight. No extra movements. Just holding on.

The two of them stood there at the border entrance, and everyone around went quiet. Even Mark didn't open his mouth.

Lucian said quietly beside me, "This is way more... subdued than I expected."

I said under my breath, "Shut up."

"Okay." He paused. "But it's kinda touching."

I elbowed him. He laughed once and stopped talking.

The person behind Nadia stepped to the side, giving them space, then lifted her head.

Deep purple hair moved in the wind. Emerald green eyes swept the circle before stopping on me.

Then she walked forward two steps and pressed my head into her chest in one motion.

"Let me see, still alive, good, very good."

My voice came out muffled. "Can you not grab my head every time you show up?"

"Nope." Juniper released me, looked me up and down, and nodded. "Didn't slack off during this time. Not bad."

"I didn't have time to slack off," I said. "You know how much went down here—"

"I know," Juniper said. "Nadia gave me the rundown on the road. You turned my student into this mess, I'm late, sorry."

She said "sorry" like she was stating a fact rather than actually apologizing, but her eyes were serious.

Mark had already wandered over, sizing up Juniper. "So you're the witch who taught her magic?"

Juniper looked at him. "And you're the one she mentioned always opens his mouth at exactly the wrong time?"

Mark turned to me. "You told her about me?"

"I just used you as an example."

Sophia laughed nearby. Elliot squeezed through from the back of the crowd, saw Nadia, went straight over and gave her a hug.

"About time you came back," Elliot said. "You know how rough he's had it?" He jerked his chin toward Milo.

"Can you not," Milo said.

"Just saying."

Freya elbowed Elliot from beside him. "That's enough."

"What? I'm being supportive."

"Verbally supportive is plenty."

The two of them started bickering quietly. Nobody around them seemed surprised. Nobody stepped in.

Juniper scanned the surroundings, her tone turning serious. "Alright, now someone tell me what's been going on in this territory."

She paused, those emerald green eyes sweeping across each face.

"I need to see for myself."