Darkness pressed on me first. A heavy, suffocating weight that clawed through my skull until I could no longer tell if I was asleep or trapped between life and death. My head throbbed like someone had hammered nails into it, every muscle in my body screaming with pain. Slowly… painfully… I forced my eyes open.
The blur sharpened, and the first face I saw nearly made my chest seize.
Seraphina Voss.
Her eyes were steady, her crimson lips curved into that same unreadable smile I remembered. She leaned forward slightly, her voice smooth as silk but carrying the edge of authority.
“We meet again,” she said. “How are you doing, Kael?”
Her words cut through the haze in my mind, pulling me fully into reality. I tried to move, but that’s when I felt it—the harsh bite of rope against my wrists.
