Silence.
A deep, heavy silence that pressed against my chest like water closing over my head.
I tried to breathe, but every inhale burned. My fingers clawed at the ground—cold, wet stone slick with dust and blood. The air smelled of iron and smoke, but something else too… magic. Old, hungry, and wrong.
My vision was a blur of silver and black. When it finally cleared, I realized I wasn’t in the Shadow Queen’s hall anymore. The world around me shimmered, suspended between two realms—the air flickering between light and darkness like the sky couldn’t decide what time it was.
Above me, fragments of light hung in the air like broken glass, each one reflecting memories. I saw Killian’s face in them—his eyes fierce one moment, consumed the next, the darkness threading through him until I bar
