SCARLETT
The silver doorway shimmered like liquid light. Each ripple released a low, harmonic note that resonated inside my chest. When I stepped closer, the mark on my shoulder warmed until it felt alive, like a second heartbeat guiding me forward.
Kael moved to my side, his fire-bright eyes locked on the glow. “This is the final threshold,” he murmured. “Beyond this, there’s no turning back.”
Darius tightened his grip on the lightning spear he’d conjured during the Rift trials. “Then we go together. No one walks through alone.”
Lucien lingered at the rear, shadows trailing like living smoke. He said nothing, but his gaze was steady and darkly calm, the way it always became before a fight.
I exhaled and placed my palm against the door.
The light accepted me.
Moonlight swallowed ev
