Chapter 21
Gabriella’s POV
The silence after Ava’s warning was so thick it hurt to breathe.
We are not alone anymore.
Her voice wasn’t just in my head this time — it echoed through every nerve in my body, a low, thrumming pulse that didn’t feel entirely my own. My heart pounded hard enough to bruise my ribs. The room felt smaller, as if the air itself was being drawn inward, condensing around me.
The flames outside were gone, but something else remained — a vibration that lingered beneath the stone, beneath the keep itself.
Ava? I whispered inwardly, my thoughts trembling.
It is testing the veil, she replied, her tone dark and resonant. It seeks entry. It seeks... connection.
That word sent a chill through me.
The hum returned — stronger this time. Not sound, but sensation. It ros
