Chapter 249

Chapter 249

-Grayson’s POV-

The winds came again.

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A violent force, howling through the in–between, ripping at anything left unanchored. I moved fast, pressing my back against the crumbling stone wall of an abandoned ruin, pulling the tattered shirt tighter around me. The wind was relentless, hungry, and if it touched me–if it reached me–1 knew what would happen.

It would pull me under.

It had happened before. I had been reckless, too slow to take cover, and the storm had nearly dragged me into the nothingness beyond. I had fought it, clawed my way back, but it had left me weaker each time.

This place wanted me gone. It wanted all of us gone.

“Still trying to fight it, huh?”

I didn’t turn. I didn’t need to. I already knew who was speaking.

Jonah.

A man who had been stuck here much much longer than I could imagine. A man who never shut up.

He sat on a broken column a few feet away, grinning like this was all some grand joke. He didn’t bother hiding from the wind. It never touched him. It had stopped trying a long time ago, as if it had given up on him. That alone made me suspicious.

“You know, you could just let go,” Jonah continued, swinging his legs like a child on a swing, “Wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.”

I ignored him, eyes scanning the horizon. The storm was easing now, the howling fading into the distance. It had found someone else.

Someone who wouldn’t fight as hard as I did.

I exhaled slowly, stepping away from the wall. My muscles were tense, my body coiled tight, always ready. Always waiting.

Jonah hopped off the column, stretching like he had just woken up from a nap. “So, what’s the plan today, big guy? More brooding? More glaring at the sky like you can intimidate it?”

I started walking. He followed. Of course he did.

I had found him a few days ago, or maybe he had found me. Time didn’t work right here. It twisted, slipped through your fingers, made you doubt what was real. I had learned quickly not to rely on it.

Jonah, however, had learned nothing.

“You’re not much of a talker, are you?” He mused, hands tucked into his coat pockets. “That’s fine. I can carry the conversation. I’m great at that. People used to tell me I talked too much, but I don’t think there’s such a thing, you know? Silence is unnatural. It makes people uncomfortable. It’s like-”

I stopped walking, “You never shut up, do you?”

grinned, “Not if I can help it.”

fingers against my temple. I had survived everything this place had thrown at me–storms, illusions,

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Chapter 249

might be the thing that finally broke

strong, sure. Probably the strongest person I’ve met

“I’m not staying.”

for a

whistled low, “Ambitious. I like

much as I had tried to

rested. It was as if the entire realm existed in a state of waiting–waiting for something to happen, for something to shift, for something to finally break the unbearable

kept moving. Jonah,

stopped trying to lose him. He had

drawing out the word like he had been waiting for the perfect moment to ask,

I didn’t answer.

didn’t seem surprised.

place that wasn’t quite life and wasn’t quite

I kept walking.

disappointment. “Wow. Not even a hint? A little clue? Come on, man, you’ve been

I said nothing. My mind was

had to be a way out of here. There was always a

that never changed. No sun. No stars. Just a heavy,

heard, as if my silence was a personal offense to him.

No surprise there.

a werewolf. Not a particularly loved one, either. People don’t like it when

at him from the corner of my eye.

smirked. “Ah–ha! That got your

I ignored him.

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hu, 6 Mär

Chapter 249

wasn’t a bad guy. I just… didn’t know how to keep my mouth shut. Pack politics? Corruption? I called it like I saw it. That didn’t make me a lot of

23)

My own pack turned on me. Said I was

ask for details. I didn’t have to.

It was written all

was something sharp beneath it, something bitter. “Funny, isn’t it? People always say they want honesty until they actually get it. Then, suddenly, you’re the bad

I didn’t respond.

arms over his head like we were just out for a casual walk. “Okay, okay, I’ll stop monologuing,” he

I kept walking.

the worst person to be stuck

smirked. Just barely.

“Oh? Did I get a reaction? A tiny little crack in that icy exterior?”

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