Rowan stood at the edge of the Echo.
The sky above him was fractured glass—moons overlapping like tears on water, and the stars were wrong. They didn’t shimmer. They watched. Every constellation pulsed with memory, and each one bled the past.
Kaelen stood just behind him, more spirit than flesh now, his form dimmed to a mist outlined in gold. The Trial had begun the moment Rowan refused to surrender.
And it was already changing him.
He looked older now—taller, shoulders squaring as the Echo folded time around him. His wolf flared just beneath the skin, golden eyes flickering with every breath.
I reached for him.
But my hand passed through.
A barrier. A veil.
We weren’t meant to interfere.
Jace pressed a hand to the invisible wall. His voice cracked. “Let us through.”
“They won’t,
