The world had been quiet for too long.
Seraphine stood at the edge of the ruined cliff where the Veil bled into the mortal world. Beneath her feet, the stone pulsed faintly with ancient power power that no longer felt stable.
The moon above them flickered.
Not dim.
Not fading.
Cracking.
A thin fracture of pale silver ran across its surface like a scar in the sky.
Seraphine felt it in her bones.
Every guardian did.
And it was getting worse.
Behind her, the man who should not exist leaned against a broken pillar of Veilstone like he had all the time in eternity.
Which, technically, he did.
Or had.
He looked human.
Too human.
Tall. Dark hair falling carelessly across his forehead. Calm eyes that held centuries of violence behind them.
An immortal monster hiding in a mortal she
