Lyra’s POV
The pendant was beating.
Not vibrating.
Not glowing.
Beating.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Like a tiny heart trapped inside the silver crescent.
I stared at it in horror.
Kael did too.
For the first time since I had met him, I saw genuine shock in his eyes.
“What is that?” I whispered.
He didn’t answer.
“Kael.”
His gaze remained fixed on the pendant.
“Put it away.”
“Why?”
“Lyra, put it away.”
I closed my fingers around it.
The heartbeat stopped.
The crypt went silent.
Then the thing beneath the floor laughed.
“He still doesn’t understand what he is holding.”
Kael’s wolf snarled.
The darkness beneath the shattered throne rippled.
Something was trying to climb through.
Kael grabbed my hand.
“Run.”
We turned.
The crypt doors slammed shut.
I nearly collid
