Ivy woke to whispers.
They weren't from outside her room.
They were inside her head.
Soft. Twisted. Familiar.
"Do you remember the fire? The screams?"
She shot upright, breath ragged, hand clutching her chest.
Her fingers glowed faintly in the dark.
Not again.
She rushed to the mirror and stared at her reflection. Her eyes flickered gold. Her skin shimmered with a pulse of flame beneath.
The Shadowborn had spoken her name.
And now it was in her dreams.
Kael hadn’t visited since that kiss.
Since the council gave him a choice.
She hadn’t expected him to stay away. Not completely. But the silence? The absence?
It hurt more than she wanted to admit.
Later that morning, she was summoned.
Not to the training grounds. Not to the library.
To the Chamber of Echoes.
The ancient sto
