The air rippled with heat and static as the rift above Garrick widened—tearing across the sky like a bleeding wound. Thunder roared without clouds. Light fractured like glass. All around them, the forest began to shift, trees bending in unnatural angles as time warped.
This wasn’t a storm.
It was a summoning.
Rowan clutched his chest, breathing heavily, sweat clinging to his skin despite the cool night air. The bond with his parents pulsed strong, but so did something else—a new tether, foreign and dark, tugging at the edges of his soul.
Garrick—no, the Echo within him—lifted his head to the sky, arms spread wide as if inviting the chaos.
“You opened the veil,” he growled, voice doubled, distorted. “And now the other side sees us.”
Jace moved instinctively, shielding Rowan with his b
