Chapter 176

Alaria

The shot echoed long after the sound had died.

It was the kind of silence that didn’t belong to peace, it belonged to endings.

And that sound was not one that I liked. If anything, it was one that I learned to dread

I looked at the cottage door, thankful to hear that Anastasia was still asleep before putting a hand on my stomach.

Amelia’s body lay still on the cold ground, her eyes open and glassy. The warmth that had once made her so human, so fragile, was gone, replaced by a hollow stillness that filled the room like smoke.

Kai crouched beside her, his face grim but calm. He reached down and lifted something from her limp hand, a small, curved knife. Its edge still caught the light, slick with intent.

He held it up for everyone to see. “She was going for Claire,” he said quietly. “If I hadn’t stopped her, she would have…”

Liam nodded once, his jaw tight. “You did what you had to.”

Claire’s face was pale, her compo