Chapter 28
The night air was tense, thick with anticipation. The moon had begun its slow slide into shadow, painting the land in a surreal silver-blue. All across the ridge, pack warriors, seers, and rogue allies gathered. The veil was thinning — and everyone could feel it.
At the heart of it all stood Hadley.
She wore the Crown of Ardyn now, its weight familiar, like it had always belonged on her brow. The scroll from her grandmother was laid open on the altar stone, runes glowing softly beneath the eclipse’s growing shadow.
Torches ringed the clearing, casting flickering light on faces strained with anxiety. Thorne, Mira, and Silas stood closest to Hadley. Each knew the price of the convergence ritual — and what it might take from her.
Suddenly, a voice broke through the crowd.
“Wait.”
Eric.
He stepped out of the shadows, winded and pale, but determined. His eyes searched for hers, and when they locked, Hadley’s heart wavered — for only a moment.
“You shouldn’t be here,” she said, voice low but steady.
Eric shook his head. “I should’ve never left your side.”
He came closer, past wary guards and skeptical allies, until he was only a few steps from her. “I was blind, Hadley. I let grief speak for me. Let guilt poison my judgment. I see it now — what you are. Who you are.”
“You’re too late,” she replied. “This is bigger than us.”
“I know.” His jaw tightened. “That’s why I’m offering myself. Let me be the blood sacrifice.”
Gasps rang out. Even Thorne stiffened.
Hadley blinked, stunned. “What?”
“The ritual needs a bloodline. And I carry it — through my grandmother, through the Flynns. You said I was a coward. Let me prove I’m not.”
She stared at him, the night wind tugging her hair.
“I won’t let you die for redemption,” she said. “This isn’t about atonement, Eric. It’s about protecting the future. You don’t get to bleed and call it love.”
He looked wounded. “Then let me stand by your side. Let me fight with you, one last time.”
Hadley turned away, thinking. The moon was nearly swallowed by the eclipse now. The air trembled. The Hollow was close.
“No sacrifice tonight,” she said finally. “We win — together. Or we fall — together.”
Then she stepped onto the altar, raising her arms.
From the trees, the Hollow emerged — a ripple in the world, like reality bending inward. Shapes crawled out, monstrous and whispering, shadows with teeth.
Eric stepped beside her. So did Thorne. And Mira. And Silas. And dozens more.
Hadley closed her eyes, channeled the energy through the crown, and began to chant the first ancient words of the convergence.
As magic lit the sky and the Hollow surged forward, the final battle began.