The warehouse was quiet, but the silence was heavy.
I stood in the center of what had once been my sanctuary, surrounded by the remnants of seven years of survival. The walls were scarred, the floor stained with blood that wasn't mine. The Vellum had torn through this place months ago, searching for me. They'd found nothing but ghosts.
But I was back now. And I was trying to remember who I'd been before all of this.
The locket was warm against my chest. I opened it for the first time in weeks.
Inside was a picture of my mother, young and beautiful, her eyes filled with a fire I'd never seen in anyone else. Next to it was a lock of her hair, dark and fine, tied with a ribbon that had long since faded.
I traced the edges of the photo, feeling the weight of everything I'd lost.
"Kaelen?
