Chapter 166: Episode 166.
Nate stepped back into the chamber immediately.
The moment the doors shut behind him again, and his eyes found Aire first.
His gaze swept over her quickly. He needed physical confirmation that she was still there, unharmed, breathing, and untouched.
Only after that did his attention shift toward Xander.
"What did he want?" Nate asked flatly.
Xander looked deeply unimpressed by the question. "You stood outside the door like a guard dog. You probably heard half the conversation already."
"I heard enough."
Aire exhaled quietly beneath her breath.
The tension between them could suffocate entire rooms at this point.
Nate walked toward her again without hesitation. He moved back beside her chair near the fire.
He stood really close.
His hand rested lightly against the back of her seat afterward.
Xander cleared his throat at the act. Nate himself only realized after several seconds had passed.
His jaw tightened faintly, but he didn’t move away.
Aire looked between both men carefully. "I’ll see what I can do, Xanden."
Nate’s face hardened immediately.
Aire straightened slightly. "We can start tomorrow."
Xander nodded once.
"The patrol Torak found wasn’t random." Nate said quietly. "You won’t dare put her at risk ways."
Aire’s stomach tightened faintly.
Xander folded his arms across his chest. "Would you leave my sight if I ask you to?"
Nate didn’t reply to that. He stare at him like he spoke a strange language.
"I thought as much." Xanden took his silent as a reply. "So shut up while I speak if you insist to stay here."
The atmosphere shifted heavily again.
Aire looked toward the fire silently.
Everything felt like it was collapsing too quickly. Nothing felt stable anymore.
Nate noticed the exhaustion settling deeper into her expression immediately.
His gaze softened faintly. As he completed ignored Nate words. "You should rest." He told her.
Aire almost laughed weakly at that. "Rest?"
Nate crouched slightly beside her chair. "You’re exhausted."
"I wonder why."
The answer slipped out before she could stop it.
Nate went quiet instantly. Regret crossed his face again.
Aire saw it and sighed softly. She couldn’t fully say she didn’t mean those words. She simply never wished for him to hear them. "I didn’t mean—"
"You did," Nate interrupted quietly. "And you were right."
Silence followed his reply.
Xander watched both of them carefully now. The shift between them was impossible not to notice.
Nate looked different around her, and a stupid jerk to everyone else. He was softer in ways that almost seemed to anger him.
Aire looked tired in a different way too. She suddenly frowned faintly. Her fingers tightened lightly against the armrest.
Nate noticed immediately. "What is it?"
Aire blinked once, then slowly looked toward the far windows.
The rain continued pouring heavily outside across the castle grounds.
Except that one section had stopped.
Aire straightened slowly.
Xander followed her line of sight immediately. "What are you looking at?"
"The rain."
Nate turned toward the windows too.
For several seconds, none of them spoke. Rain fell violently across the courtyard. Except one narrow space directly beneath her side of the chamber.
It seemed as if the storm itself avoided touching it.
Aire’s heartbeat slowed faintly. Cold brushed across the back of her neck, and she froze instantly.
"Aire?"
She barely heard Nate.
The room suddenly felt distant again, and muted. The fire dimmed slightly beside them.
"Aire..." a voice called softly, but it wasn’t the voice of any of the men in the room. This was wad soft, and distant.
Her breath caught sharply.
Xander’s posture changed immediately. "What happened?"
Aire looked around slowly. Her pulse quickened violently. Lately, she felt watched.
"I heard something."
Nate moved closer immediately. "What?"
She shook her head faintly. "I don’t know."
But deep inside, she did. Somethow, the voice did not feel unfamiliar. That was the frightening part. The voice felt like something she had forgotten rather than something she had never known.
Xander studied her carefully now. "Aire."
She looked toward him slowly.
"Talk to me," he said quietly. "When you first started seeing visions... did you ever feel watched?"
Aire’s throat tightened.
Yes.
She had.
Especially lately, around the mirrors, whispers, and a strange feeling that something stood just beyond sight.
She swallowed softly. "Sometimes."
Nate’s eyes darkened immediately.
Xander noticed his reaction. "You’ve sensed it too?"
Nate answered after a brief pause. "Only around her."
The honesty in the statement settled heavily into the room.
Aire looked between them carefully.
Xander’s expression sharpened thoughtfully. "The old records mentioned strange environmental shifts around fae bloodlines."
Nate frowned faintly. "Bloodlines?"
Xander nodded once. "Storm interruption, time distortion, and sound displacement."
Aire stared at him quietly.
The fire crackled again softly. Then suddenly, every flame inside the chamber dimmed at once.
The room darkened visibly, as the fire lowered.
Nate straightened immediately.
Xander’s gaze sharpened.
Aire’s breathing slowed again. The cold feeling spread deeper beneath her skin now. She rose slowly from her chair before either man could stop her.
"Aire."
She barely heard Nate this time.
Her attention remained fixed on the balcony windows. Something stood beyond them, as if waiting, and she could feel it.
Nate moved beside her instantly as she approached the glass windows.
"You’re shaking."
Only then did she realize he was right. Her fingers trembled faintly.
Xander followed several steps behind them carefully. The balcony windoows opened slowly, and cold wind swept inside immediately.
Rain crashed violently across the kingdom beyond but around the balcony itself, nothing fell.
The storm curved unnaturally around her side of the tower.
Aire stepped forward slowly.
Nate stayed close behind her.
Aire gripped the stone railing lightly.
The night stretched endlessly ahead into dark forests and distant lightning. Sudden faint music drifted through the storm.
Aire froze instantly.
Nate heard it too this time. His expression darkened again.
Xander went completely still behind them.
The sound was soft, and haunting, beautiful enough to make her chest ache.
Aire’s heartbeat quickened. She knew that sound. She coudktn say she did, but she seemed to recognise the sound.
The mark beneath her collarbone suddenly burned sharply.
She gasped softly.
Nate caught her waist instantly before she stumbled.
"Aire."
The burning spread deeper through her chest. Her vision blurred violently, and suddenly, the balcony vanished.
Aire stood somewhere else entirely.
Towering white trees stretched endlessly beneath silver skies, with moonlight shimmered across black rivers.
There was strange glowing flowers blooming beneath enormous roots and everywhere felt earthy.
Aire turned slowly, then froze.
Someone stood far away between the trees, she could see people there, standing tall and still, watching her silently.
Aire could not see their face.
She jerked violently back into herself.
Nate tightened his hold immediately. "Aire!"
Her breathing turned ragged. The storm returned around her. Her heartbeat still pounded violently.
Xander stepped closer carefully. "What did you see?"
Aire stared toward the distant forest, shaken. She parted her lips to speak. Her fingers twisted, and without a word, darkness surrounded her world.
A/N: Welcome to my birthday week, y’all. There might be a mass release on Friday. 🫠😘
