For a moment, time stood still.
The sky—twisting with starlight and shadow—held its breath. The obsidian wolves froze mid-motion, their stone eyes fixed on the intruder.
Garrick floated just above the ground, encased in chains that weren’t holding him back, but radiating power from him. His cloak whipped in an unseen wind, and his smile was carved in cruelty.
Jace forced himself upright, every muscle screaming.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
Garrick’s laughter echoed across the soulscape. “Neither should you, boy. You were never meant to return.”
He landed softly, boots crunching against ash.
“I gave you freedom. I carved that filthy Omega from your mind. And what did you do? You went crawling back to your bond.”
Quinn, trembling but defiant, stepped between Garrick and Rowan. “You stole
