Chapter 183 — Borrowed Time

We kept moving until the sound of the platforms faded into the deeper trees. Greta's presence stayed with us, cold and steady, holding the other wills from closing in again. It felt like running under a borrowed sky. The moment her interest ended, the weight would come back twice as hard.

Vale found a better place than the first cut we had used. A low overhang of rock where the roots of two old trees had twisted together and made a natural screen. It was still temporary. It would not hide us from a full search party for long, but it gave us space to stop without being completely open.

We crawled under it and dropped.

No one spoke for a long time. The only sounds were rough breathing and the quiet drip of blood onto leaves. Lydia's arm was swollen and dark. Vale's shoulder had stopped bleeding but looked wrong. Seraphina sat with her back against the stone, eyes half-closed, tracking things the rest of us could not see. Feng Lan leaned against the far side, one hand pressed to her lower stomach where the collected mark still sat like a cold weight inside her.

Elizabeth stayed close to me. Her energy was almost gone. She had spent too much keeping the override from finishing earlier. When she finally sat, her shoulder touched mine and stayed there.

The mark under my skin was quieter than it had been on the ridge, but it was not calm. It pulsed in slow, heavy beats, like something that had been denied a meal and was still thinking about it. The previous owner's presence was faint, damaged from the last rupture, but I could still feel him watching through my eyes.

Greta's voice drifted in, soft and amused.

"You look terrible. All of you. I am keeping the others back, but I will not do it forever. Rest while you can. The soldiers are still sweeping. They will find this place eventually."

No one answered her.

I closed my eyes and tried to feel the state of the remnant in my chest. It was bad. Every deep breath pulled at something that felt close to tearing. Seed control was still broken in places. I could feel the gaps when I focused on them, like missing teeth.

Elizabeth noticed the way my hand had curled into a fist over the mark.

"It is still pulling," she said. Not a question.

"Yes."

"How bad?"

"Manageable for now. Greta is holding the worst of it. When she stops, it will come back."

She was quiet for a moment. Then she shifted closer so her side pressed fully against mine. The bond between us was raw. I could feel how drained she was, and she could feel the restless weight of the claim under my skin.

"We will need to deal with it before she loses interest," Elizabeth said. "Not now. But soon. Leaving it hungry while we are this weak is dangerous."

I nodded once. There was nothing else to say.

Across from us, Vale was watching the tree line through the roots. Her voice was low.

"Two search lines. One on the lower slope, one higher. They are moving slow and careful. We have maybe an hour before they reach this stretch if they keep the same pattern."

"An hour is more than we had on the ridge," Lydia said. Her voice was tight with pain. "We use it."

Seraphina opened her eyes.

"Greta's hold is steady for the moment. The other wills are pressing against it, but they are not breaking through yet. She is stronger than they expected, or more interested than they like."

Feng Lan spoke without looking up.

"She is not doing this for free. Whatever she wants from you, Aristarkh, it will not be small."

I knew that already.

We used the time the way people who had almost died used time. Lydia and Vale worked on the worst of the injuries with what little they had left. Seraphina kept watch on the residual pressure and the search lines. Feng Lan stayed quiet, conserving what strength she still had. Elizabeth did not move away from my side.

The mark kept its slow, heavy pulse. Every now and then it would flare hotter for a second, like it was testing whether Greta's hold was still solid. Each time it did, Elizabeth's fingers would tighten slightly against my arm, and the bond would carry the same restless heat to her.

After a while she spoke again, quieter so only I would hear.

"When we do deal with it, it cannot be careful. The claim is second-stage now. It will want more than it used to. And your control is not whole."

"I know."

"I am not telling you to be afraid of it. I am telling you that when the time comes, we meet it on our feet, not while we are still running and half-broken."

I turned my head and looked at her. Even exhausted, even drained of almost everything, she still looked at me like the decision had already been made a long time ago.

"We will," I said.

Greta's low laugh moved through the overhang again.

"You two are very serious for people who almost got collected an hour ago. Rest. Watch the trees. When the soldiers get closer I will tell you. Until then, try not to tear each other apart with all that careful tension. It is almost entertaining."

No one answered her.

Outside, the search lines kept moving. Inside the overhang, the mark kept its slow hungry beat under my skin, and Elizabeth stayed pressed against my side, feeling every pulse of it through the bond. The others sat in exhausted silence, listening for the moment the borrowed time would end.

We were alive. We had cover. We had a little while longer under Greta's interest.

It was not safety.

But it was enough to breathe, and to feel the claim still wanting, and to know that sooner or later we would have to answer it properly.

The forest stayed quiet around us for now.