Nymera’s POV
“She belongs to me.”
The words didn’t just echo.
They buried themselves in the stone, in the marrow of the mountain, in the pit of my chest.
The pool boiled black behind me.
Kaelith stood frozen beside me, sword half-drawn.
Dain’s blade was already at the ready, his stance squared, a silver glow pulsing beneath his skin. He was ready to kill something. Or someone.
Me.
The voice came again, deeper this time. Hungrier.
“You opened the door, Nymera. You cannot close it now.”
I stumbled back.
“No,” I whispered. “I didn’t ask for this—”
“You reached.”
The voice coiled around me like smoke. “And I answered.”
The water surged upward.
A shape began to rise.
Not flesh. Not bone.
Just shadow and flame.
Kaelith grabbed my arm. “We have to go.”
I couldn’t move.
The pre
