Ellie POV
The air changed although the alarms never sounded.
It thickened—heavy and electric, like the moment just before lightning split the sky. My skin prickled, every nerve humming as if the world itself were drawing a sharp, anticipatory breath.
The goddess was close.
Not distant and observing the way she sometimes was, not a whisper threaded through dreams or visions, but present. Near enough that the warmth in my chest burned steady and bright, coiling around my ribs like a too-tight embrace.
The storm wasn’t just coming.
It was here.
August whimpered softly against my shoulder, his small body pressing closer to mine. Ian fussed in my other arm, his unease feeding off my own despite my efforts to stay calm.
“It’s okay,” I murmured, rocking them gently
