The silence lasted exactly three heartbeats.
Then the Seventh Archive chose.
A pulse of silver light rolled out through the open doorway.
It wasn't violent.
It wasn't destructive.
It was... curious.
The wave washed over Black Hollow.
Midnight blinked.
For a single, impossible instant—
she wasn't standing in the town square anymore.
She stood in front of the little café she used to visit before her life unraveled.
People laughed around her.
Children chased each other through the streets.
No throne.
No demons.
No Hollow King.
No Azhrael.
No Seraphine.
No war.
Just...
life.
Ordinary life.
Her heart tightened.
It felt real.
Painfully real.
"Midnight."
Kael's voice.
Far away.
She turned.
He wasn't there.
The place where he should have been was empty.
A hollow spac
