Let Them Kneel (kaelani and Julian) novel Chapter 147

Watching

Julian swallowed.

Slowly, he folded the map and stood, walking back toward Jace.

“This is it,” he said, his voice low but certain.

Jace squinted at the treeline, then back at Julian.

“This is thee forest?”

Julian nodded once.

He took a step toward the shadows, eyes never leaving the trees.

“Yeah,” he replied. “This is the last stretch before the Gate.”

Jace let out a breath that broke into a laugh–ragged, disbelieving

“We made it,” he said quietly. Then louder, like saying it twice might make it real.

“We fucking made it.”

He staggered a step, dragging a hand down his face, eyes bright with something dangerously close to hope.

“Holy shit, Julian. Do you realize-?”

“Don’t,” Julian said.

The word cut clean.

Jace froze, the grin dying on his lips.

Julian’s eyes never left the forest. The way it swallowed light. The way it felt like it was staring back

“Don’t celebrate yet.”

Jace followed his gaze, the silence of the trees pressing in, excitement bleeding from his expression.

Julian finally turned, his face carved from something grim and unmovable.

“Everything before this,” he said, “was just the toll to reach the door.”

He lifted his hand and pointed toward the treeline.

“This is the threshold.”

A brief moment of silence passed.

“This is where shit gets real.”

“The sentinels.” Jace said—and the word landed heavy between them.

Jace dropped heavily onto a rock, dragging a hand through his hair. Whatever adrenaline had carried him to the water was gone NOW – burned off, leaving only weariness behind

E

“So,” he said hesitantly, staring at the treeline like it might lunge at him if he blinked. “What’s the plan?”

Jalier did’t answer right away.

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The night pressed close around them, heavy and watchful. Even the stars seemed dimmer here, as if the land itself knew what waited beyond those trees.

“We don’t rush it,” Julian said finally. “Not tonight.”

Jace let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. “Good. Because if you’d said run headfirst into whatever the hell that is, I was gonna have to knock you out.”

Julian huffed faintly but didn’t look back. “We’re exhausted. Dehydrated. We can barely stand without swaying.”

“Yeah, I’m depleted,” Jace muttered. “My head feels like I’ve been hit with a sack of bricks.”

“We’ll both need every ounce of strength we have,” Julian said quietly. “We need to shift, eat, rest.”

Jace followed his gaze again, unease crawling up his spine. “And what if that’s not enough?”

Julian’s mouth tightened.

“I can’t guarantee that it will be,” he admitted. “I don’t know what these sentinels look like. How they move. Or how they kill. All I know is that nobody’s ever made it past them.” He paused. “And if anyone did… they didn’t come back to tell the tale.”

The silence that followed felt deliberate

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