Her fake name was ripped through the dark, half a snarl, half a triumph.
She forced her legs to move faster. Just a few strides more, just a few—
Her knee buckled.
The world tilted. She hit the earth hard, palms scraping raw against gravel, the impact shuddering through her bones.
Pain bit deep, and for one agonizing moment she couldn’t breathe.
The torch burned steady, so close she could almost feel its heat on her face. Yet the gates stretched before her like a wall of teeth, unreachable.
Behind her, the ground trembled with the pounding of boots.
The Seekers were closing in.
Her body screamed at her to rise, but it wasn’t only her body anymore. Something darker stirred inside, something she’d tried to bury.
A pulse.
A claw.
A growl too deep to be human rasped against her thro
