Chapter 20
Gossamer – noun: a fine, filmy substance consisting of cobwebs spun by small spiders, seen especially in autumn. The word rolled through the space between us like it didn’t belong in human mouths—heavy, foreign, and threaded with something that made the fire seem to dim. I frowned. “What does it mean?” His eyes held mine, unblinking. “It means… the ones who endure.” His voice was steady, but beneath it, I heard the weight of centuries. “We survive what others can’t. What they don’t. And we pay for it.” A chill prickled along my skin, even with the fire at my side. “Pay how?” His gaze dropped for the first time since I’d asked, his jaw clenching. “You’ve already seen it, Thea. In the blood. In what Dante became.” The room felt smaller, the air thicker. And yet, I didn’t look away. “Yo
- Writer
