The laughter rolled across the world.
Deep.
Ancient.
Endless.
The mountains shook beneath it.
Trees split apart.
The sky itself seemed to bend.
And still—
the god laughed.
Denise stood frozen.
The words echoed endlessly inside her head.
The Keeper never survives.
No.
There had to be another way.
There was always another way.
Prophecies were wrong.
Stories changed.
People survived impossible things all the time.
But the faces around her told a different story.
The oldest elder looked defeated.
Cael looked heartbroken.
The giant creature looked ashamed.
And Liam—
Liam looked terrified.
Not for himself.
For her.
The bond carried every ounce of it.
His fear crashed into her like a wave.
His desperation.
His refusal.
His rage.
It was so intense that Denise nearly
