“Queen of Ruin. Welcome home.”
The voice wrapped around Seren like smoke—neither masculine nor feminine, but something ancient, serpentine, and knowing. It didn’t echo. It coiled. It slithered into her bones, into the deepest cracks of her being, where even the bond couldn’t reach.
She was falling—still falling—through darkness so complete, it felt like the end of the world. But there was no wind. No sensation of motion. Only a suffocating stillness, like being swallowed whole by a void that remembered her name.
Seren opened her mouth to scream.
Nothing came.
The fire was gone. The Trial was gone. Even Kael’s presence—so recently reignited across their bond—was a fading ember in the back of her mind. She clutched her belly, as if anchoring herself through the life within, whispering s
