The iron-bound doors of the Inner Sanctum groaned as they swung open, revealing a chamber that took my breath away. It wasn't a room so much as a hollowed-out geode, a cathedral of raw, unrefined silver that hummed with a low-frequency vibration I could feel in my very teeth.
Giant clusters of translucent quartz sprouted from the floor, glowing with a soft, blue-white light that reflected off the veins of silver running through the walls like frozen lightning. Here, deep beneath the earth, the air was surprisingly sweet, smelling of ozone and cold stone.
"Wait outside," Silas commanded, his voice echoing off the crystalline walls.
Kaelin and the guards bowed low, their eyes lingering on me for a fraction of a second—no longer with judgment, but with a wary, deep-seated reverence. The he
