Let Them Kneel (kaelani and Julian) novel Chapter 138

Kaelani plummeted through open sky, limbs flailing, the world a blur of blue and white and the dizzying sprawl of Rio spinning beneath her.

I’m going to die.

The thought struck with chilling clarity, slicing through the panic like lightning. Her heart pounded. Her breath caught somewhere between her lungs and throat. Her mind reeled. There was no plan, no magic, no lifeline

This is it.

This is the end.

Her life flashed before her eyes–the good, the bad, the ugly. Moments she’d cherished. Ones she’d buried. Faces she missed.

And everything she’d never had–falling in love, being the home someone ran to, being the ache in someone’s chest beneath a thousand stars.

And amidst it all, her wolf surged.

She was right there, just below the surface–clawing, snarling, refusing to accept defeat.

Something else rose up too.

A voice-

No.

Not like this.

Not today.

The panic didn’t vanish–it focused. Hardened into something sharp.

Kaelani shut her eyes against the wind and the blinding sun. Center.

You’re not falling.

You’re standing

Not plummeting.

Landing

She could feel it then her power–rushing forward like a tide breaking free of its dam.

A cry tore from her chest, raw and primal.

And in a blink

A sonic snap rippled through the sky

She slammed down onto stone back on the statue’s arm. One knee bent, landing hard in a crouch, hand pressed to the concrete, her breath heaving

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She didn’t just pass the test

She landed in defiance of every doubt ever cast in her name.

4

The wind had barely settled when a voice rang out breathless with awe.

“I knew it…” one of the Seers whispered. “She’s the one. The one we’ve been waiting for all these years.”

The others murmured in agreement, their gazes lit with reverence and quiet triumph.

But Kaelani was far from grateful.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” she snapped, pointing at the Seer who had pushed her. “You could’ve killed me!”

The Seer didn’t flinch. Her expression was serene, otherworldly.

“It was never death that waited for you, child,” she said calmly. “Only the moment of your rising.”

Kaelani’s jaw clenched. She turned to Draevyn, fury radiating from her every breath. “And you! Were you just going to let that happen?”

He stepped forward, arms crossed, unreadable as ever.

“I was going to intervene,” he said coolly. “If you hadn’t acted–I would’ve teleported to catch you.”

“You sure took your time,” she muttered.

His head tilted. “You were falling for all of five seconds.”

Kaelani glanced over the edge again.

The city still stretched below like a tapestry of light and chaos.

“It felt like forever,” she whispered.

One of the Seers stepped forward, eyes glowing faintly in the sunlight as she reached out and gently took Kaelani’s hand.

“The power is strong in you,” she said, voice low and reverent. “It waits for you like a blade unsheathed–ready to strike at your will. But it is you who builds the wall between it and yourself. You who doubts.”

“I shouldn’t be forced to use it,” Kaelani snapped. “Especially not like that. It’s dangerous. It’s violating. It’s a betrayal of trust.”

The Seer’s hands remained steady on Kaelani’s, her voice quieter now–but unshakable.

“You call it a betrayal. But the greater betrayal would be letting fear keep you from becoming who you were born to be. Not every test is kind-

but every one is a summons, meant to awaken the power you still don’t believe you’re worthy of.”

The Seer’s words echoed in Kaelam’s mind like ripples across still water. She didn’t like how it happened — didn’t forgive being pushed without warning–but the truth in those words clung to her bones.

Darvyn stepped forward then and extended a hand.

“How about we continue this conversation on more stable ground?”

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A faint smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Preferably the kind that doesn’t tempt fate or gravity.”

Kaelani looked at his hand.

She almost took it.

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