Chapter Title: When the Past Learns to Breathe
The horizon did not hold.
It filled.
Slowly at first, like mist gathering over water, the faint silhouettes continued to form. One became three, three became ten, ten stretched into dozens. Each figure wavered at the edge of reality before stepping forward and solidifying just enough to exist.
Not fully alive.
Not entirely gone.
Something in between.
Azrael stood his ground, his eyes scanning the growing crowd as his grip on Quinn tightened ever so slightly. His instincts told him to prepare for a fight.
But nothing attacked.
Nothing rushed him.
Nothing even showed aggression.
They simply… arrived.
“…Yeah,” he muttered under his breath.
“This is getting out of hand.”
The woman beside him didn’t respond immediately. Her attention
