The sky cracked open above the Hollow.
Darkness poured through like blood from a wound, thick and unnatural—no moon, no stars, only swirling smoke laced with gold and red, like fire waiting to be born.
Kael stood in front of Seren, arms spread protectively, his body still trembling from the soul trial.
But Seren… didn’t hide.
She stood, barefoot in the ash-strewn clearing, hair wild, silver threaded through black, a quiet storm rising beneath her skin. Her hands were steady. Her heart was not.
“They shouldn’t have found us so quickly,” she whispered, her voice laced with something older than fear.
“They didn’t just find us,” Kael said. “They were watching. Waiting for your name to be spoken aloud.”
And he had spoken it.
The name her mother gave her in secret. The name he used to br
