The ferry cut across dark water toward the Atoll, and I stood at the bow watching the Crucible Arena grow larger against a sky the color of old bruises. Storm clouds gathered along the eastern horizon. Fitting weather for what was about to happen.
Natalia pressed against my left side. Emi occupied my right, her healing aura already humming faintly beneath her skin like a generator warming up. Skylar leaned against the railing two feet away, headphones around her neck, her violet eyes tracking the approaching island with the cold focus of someone planning surgical strikes. Cel sat on a bench behind us with Noah standing guard, both women watching the water with the quiet composure of soldiers heading back to a familiar warzone. Akari had claimed the highest point on the ferry's observation deck and was filming everything for social media content she'd probably title something like "MY BOYFRIEND IS ABOUT TO GET ELECTROCUTED (NOT CLICKBAIT)."
