The world stopped.
Not metaphorically.
Not almost.
Actually.
The pendulum clock in Blackwood's entrance hall froze halfway through its swing.
Snowflakes hung motionless beyond the broken windows.
The setting sun stayed locked against the mountains, painting the sky in an endless stretch of crimson and gold.
No breeze.
No birds.
No heartbeat outside the manor walls.
Only the people inside Blackwood could still move.
Everyone felt it.
Time itself had become a prison.
Kael gasped.
The seven-star mark across his chest pulsed with black light.
"The Hollow King..." Kael whispered.
"...he isn't stopping time."
Isolde looked at him sharply.
"No," Isolde said.
Kael swallowed.
"He's refusing tomorrow."
Silence settled over the room.
Luna slowly turned toward Isolde.
"There's a
