The Hollow spoke again.
You suffer because you choose.
Crimson mist spread across the sanctuary.
It touched the freed wolves.
Immediately—
they froze.
One woman screamed.
Another dropped to her knees.
A man reached towards someone only he could see.
Illusions.
Hundreds of them.
Every person seeing what they wanted most.
Or what they regretted most.
"Keeper!"
"I cannot stop it!"
"Kevin?"
Silver light flashed in his eyes.
"I can see the connections."
"Break them."
"I can't!"
"Why?"
"They aren't chains!"
My heart stopped.
Of course.
Veyr chained people.
The Hollow didn't.
It offered.
A dead child.
A lost mate.
A forgiven mistake.
A life without pain.
And people chose to reach for it.
Clarissa whispered—
"You can't free someone from a chain they willingly hold.
