The world ended in light.
This time, it wasn't falling. It was drowning. My veins, eyes, and lungs were all filled with silver until I couldn’t tell the difference between the cradle and my body. I choked as I clawed at the weight, but there was no ground, no darkness, and no air.
Only her.
The child's small but unyielding hand, like bone forged into iron, remained fixed on my wrist. When she smiled, the light around us shattered like glass, and her eyes, my eyes, glowed molten.
"You shouldn't have taken so long,” she said in a sweet, high-pitched voice that made my stomach turn. "I have been waiting."
I tried to wrench free, shadows bursting from me in a storm. She laughed, opening her other hand, and my shadows snapped into hers like they’d been born for her touch.
“No,” I gaspe
