After what could generously be described as a long debate—and less generously as a joint interrogation disguised as affection—Rachel and Seraphina finally relented. The cuffs came off, complete with a faint shimmer of ancient runes and the sort of hum that usually meant something powerful had once been bound inside them. Hopefully not permanently.
In any case, freedom was mine. Limited freedom. The kind that came with a silent understanding that if I even looked at a battlefield, I'd be tackled by two terrifyingly affectionate women and likely cuffed again.
We were back at Mount Hua. The sect's mountains stood tall around us, cold and proud, as if they'd seen empires rise and fall and hadn't been particularly impressed. The sky above was a crystalline blue, the kind that made you feel like the heavens had upgraded their resolution.
