The silence in the room was unbearable, a suffocating weight that pressed against every heart. Mae could still feel the ghost of the void’s presence, a lingering cold that gnawed at the edges of her mind. The others stood scattered around her, their expressions a mix of fear, disbelief, and rage, but it was Lucien who drew her gaze.
He stood a few feet away, still as stone, his eyes locked on nothing. A single tear slipped down his cheek, catching in the low light before disappearing into the shadow that clung to him. It was not weakness that made him cry, Mae realized, but something deeper, something far older than any of them could comprehend.
The air around them shifted, a tremor running through the floor, subtle yet unmistakable. The universe itself seemed to lean in, holding its bre
