Nobody moved.
The forest remained frozen around them.
Not still.
Frozen.
As if reality itself had stopped breathing.
Kael stood in front of Midnight instinctively, claws extended and silver eyes scanning the trees.
The mate bond burned.
Alert. Protective. Ready.
Midnight barely noticed.
Her attention remained fixed on the spot where the figure had stood.
Or hadn't stood.
Because that was the problem.
The thing didn't feel like a creature.
It felt like a missing piece.
A hole in existence shaped vaguely like a person.
The throne beneath Draven Ridge pulsed violently.
Warning after warning after warning.
Midnight had never felt it this afraid.
Not during Azhrael.
Not during the Hollow King.
Not even during the apocalypse.
That alone terrified her.
Lucien finally broke t
