Silence swallowed the chamber after the word fell.
Daughter.
Low and steady, it reverberated in my skull as though it were being repeated by the stone itself. The figure with the hollow face retreated, vanishing into smoke that clung to the walls as the light from the fissure gutted and faded to a faint glow. However, the voice persisted.
Nobody made a move. Not even Thorn. I could feel the stiffness and c***k in his certainty even though his arm remained locked around me.
It was Mira who whispered first. "Daughter?" She sounded as if she were uttering a curse out loud.
In the quiet, Kalen's laugh was harsh, unsightly, and excessively loud. "There it is. Evidence. We don't own her. Whatever crawled out of this pit is her blood. Thorn, you continue to cling to her as though she were
