The ship was restless with preparation, voices low but sharp as the Fallen planned their next steps. Mae barely heard them. Her mind was fixed on something else, something that gnawed at the edges of her thoughts and refused to loosen its grip.
The chains.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw them, bright violet threads lacing beneath her skin, answering to Lucien’s like a reflection in water. The others didn’t see it, not fully, not the way he did. And she knew, somehow, that whatever this was, it belonged to the two of them alone.
So when the moment came, when the others were distracted, Mae touched Lucien’s arm and nodded toward the corridor. He didn’t question, didn’t speak, just followed her into the silence of the ship’s lower deck.
It was dark there, lit only by the hum of th
