Chapter 79

Chapter 79 Seraphina's POV I stood on the cliff’s edge, the wind whipping my hair across my face, the night sky above me swirling with stars and storm clouds alike. Below, the valley stretched wide and shadowed, the remnants of our ambush barely visible in the moonlight. But I wasn’t looking at the battlefield. I was thinking of Cassian. And what I’d become. Callista approached quietly, her boots soft on the rocky ground. "Still awake?" "Couldn’t sleep," I said without turning. She stood beside me, arms crossed, her silhouette sharp against the sky. "You did the right thing, you know." "Maybe," I murmured. "But doing the right thing still feels like a weight I can't shake." She didn’t answer right away. Just let the silence stretch, like she always did when she knew I needed space. Finally, she spoke. "You’re not the same girl you were when I met you." I glanced at her, eyebrow raised. "Good or bad?" "Both," she said honestly. "You’ve hardened. But you’ve also become something he never