Chapter 121: The Claiming
Athena pov
"Athena. What was that?"
His hands cradled my face like I might shatter into smoke. I was soaked in sweat, my heart thundering, my limbs trembling with a wild kind of dread I couldn’t name. I could still feel the echo of Caelum’s presence, like frost left after the storm. His voice was still in my ears.
"You’re not safe," I said hoarsely, blinking rapidly to clear my vision. "None of us are."
Kieran’s eyes searched mine. "Did you have another vision?"
"No. A memory... but twisted. Caelum was there. Wearing his face again." I swallowed hard. "Lucas’s."
Kieran’s jaw tightened. His thumbs brushed my temples. "Tell me everything."
I did. Every flicker of the dream, every word Caelum had whispered. The cold malice. The sense of unraveling. The fragments of divine energy cracking like shattered glass.
He was quiet for a long moment. Then he leaned back and pulled the sheet around my shoulders. "Stay here. I need to check something."
I caught his wrist. "What are you thinking?"
"That symbol," he said. "The one glowing on your collarbone before you passed out. I’ve seen it before."
"When?"