Phoebe's POV
"Are you cold?" Perry asked when he noticed my trembling.
I wasn't cold. I was burning from the inside out, desperate to lose myself in him before reality came crashing back down around us.
The conversation on the mountain still echoed in my mind - all those unspoken truths about heirs and futures and the impossible choices waiting for us. Tonight felt like our last night in paradise before the fall.
I pressed closer to his chest, breathing in his scent of cedar and power. "We should head back," he said, but his arms tightened around me like he couldn't bear to let me go.
The darkness had settled around us completely now. Stars scattered overhead like scattered diamonds, mirroring the vibrant city lights sprawling below us. The city pulsed with life, seemingly untouched by the power shifts that had shaken the palace or the justice that would unfold tomorrow.
Tomorrow. Execution day for every traitor. The elders included.
