Chapter 80 The day after everything happened

Chapter 80 The day after everything happened
We didn’t sleep that night. Not really. We sat by the fire until it burned down to ash, listening for sounds that never came and expecting trouble anyway. When the sky started to change color, I knew whatever came next wouldn’t wait for us to be ready.
Xander stood first. He crushed the last ember under his boot and scanned the trees. The woods stayed quiet, but not empty. Quiet like something holding its breath.
“We should move,” he said.
I nodded and pulled my bag over my shoulder. My body felt tired but steady, like it had decided panic was no longer useful. We headed east without a path, following dips in the land and old markings Xander didn’t explain. I didn’t ask. I was done being led by words.
The pendant rested heavy against my skin. It wasn’t glowing or burning or doing anything dramatic. It just existed with intention. Every few steps, it tugged slightly, like a reminder.
By midmorning, we reached a stretch of broken stone and collapsed walls. The place looked abandoned, but not forgotten. Someone had built here carefully once. The ruins leaned inward, as if still protecting something.
Xander slowed. I didn’t.
“You’ve been here,” I said.
“Yes.”
“With him.”
“Yes.”
I stopped near a flat stone slab half buried in dirt. My foot touched it and something shifted inside me. Not pain. Not fear. A memory that wasn’t mine but felt close enough to borrow.
My father standing right where I was. His voice low. Controlled. Saying no to someone who wasn’t used to hearing it.
I swallowed. “He argued here.”
Xander watched me closely. “He refused to hand something over.”
“Me?”
“No,” Xander said. “Not yet.”
That answer sat wrong.
Before I could ask, the air changed. The kind of change you feel before you hear anything. Xander turned sharply.
“We’re not alone,” he said.
Three figures stepped into the clearing from different sides, slow and unbothered. No weapons out. No rush. The confidence made my skin crawl.
One of them smiled at me like we’d met before. “Seraphina.”
I didn’t answer.
“You look just like him,” the man continued. “Your father.”
Xander shifted beside me. “Say what you came to say and leave.”
The man ignored him. “Your father made arrangements. Promises. Then he vanished.”
“He didn’t vanish,” I said. “He chose.”
The smile faded. “That choice cost people.”
“Not me,” I replied.
The man studied me for a moment, then glanced at the pendant. His eyes flicked back up fast, like he hadn’t meant to notice it.
“Interesting,” he said.
Xander stepped forward. “Don’t look at her.”
“That’s rich,” the man replied. “Coming from you.”
I turned sharply. “What does that mean?”
Silence hit too fast.
Xander didn’t answer.
The second man laughed quietly. “You didn’t tell her?”
I looked at Xander. “Tell me what.”
His jaw set. He still didn’t speak.
The first man sighed. “Your father didn’t trust him. But he used him anyway.”
“For what?” I asked.
“To watch you,” the man said. “To report changes. To make sure you didn’t awaken too early.”
My breath stayed steady. I refused to let them see anything else.
“And when he failed?” I asked.
The man shrugged. “We stepped in.”
I turned to Xander slowly. “You didn’t just follow me. You delayed me.”
“That’s not true,” he said quickly.
“You tracked me,” I replied. “You redirected things. You slowed me down.”
“I was protecting you.”
“You were controlling me.”
The third figure finally spoke. “Both can be true.”
That was enough.
The pendant pulsed once, firm and solid. The ground beneath us cracked slightly, not violently, just enough to remind everyone I wasn’t unarmed.
The men stepped back.
Xander stared at me, something close to fear flickering across his face. Not fear of me. Fear of what I was becoming without his permission.
“You knew this would happen,” I said.
He shook his head. “Not like this.”
“You never planned to tell me,” I said. “Not until you could manage it.”
His silence confirmed it.
The men retreated slowly, eyes still on me. “We’ll be watching,” one of them said. “Just like before.”
They disappeared into the trees.
The clearing felt heavier after they left.
I turned fully to Xander. “Say it now.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Your father asked me to stay close. To delay certain triggers.”
“Triggers,” I repeated flatly.
“He was afraid you’d be used.”
“And you decided you knew better.”
“I decided I could keep you alive.”
I nodded once. “Then we’re done.”
“What?” he asked.
“You don’t get to decide for me anymore,” I said. “You don’t walk beside me unless you tell the truth. All of it.”
“I can’t,” he said.
“Then you walk alone.”
I turned away before he could respond.
The pendant felt lighter now, like it approved.
I didn’t know where I was going yet. I just knew I wasn’t waiting anymore.
And whatever my father had tried to delay, it had finally caught up to me.