Eryx POV
I was halfway through fastening the last clasp of my armor when I felt it, the quiet weight of Rachael watching me too closely.
I didn’t turn at first. I already knew it was Rachael. I’d felt her presence the moment I entered the room, the way her worry clung to the air like mist. The room smelled faintly of oil and steel, the familiar scents of preparation, of inevitability. Still, her gaze burned against my back.
When I finally looked over my shoulder, she was standing near the door, fingers laced together so tightly her knuckles had gone pale. Her eyes tracked every movement I made, as if she were trying to memorize me in case this was the last time she’d see me standing whole.
I straightened and walked to her.
“Rachael,” I said quietly. “Are you alright?”
Her lips parted
