The Claiming

Athena pov

"Athena. What was that?"

His hands cradled my face like I might shatter into smoke. I was soaked in sweat, my heart thundering, my limbs trembling with a wild kind of dread I couldn't name. I could still feel the echo of Caelum's presence, like frost left after the storm. His voice was still in my ears.

"You're not safe," I said hoarsely, blinking rapidly to clear my vision. "None of us are."

Kieran's eyes searched mine. "Did you have another vision?"

"No. A memory… but twisted. Caelum was there. Wearing his face again." I swallowed hard. "Lucas's."

Kieran's jaw tightened. His thumbs brushed my temples. "Tell me everything."

I did. Every flicker of the dream, every word Caelum had whispered. The cold malice. The sense of unraveling. The fragments of divine energy cracking like shattered glass.