The human world smelled wrong.
Seraphine noticed it the moment they stepped out of the Veil.
Smoke.
Metal.
Engines.
Too many humans packed into too little space.
Cities had grown like steel forests since the last time she had walked this world.
Lights covered the horizon.
Glass towers pierced the sky.
And above all of it
The moon hung cracked.
Seraphine felt it like a wound inside her chest.
Beside her, the immortal looked around with mild curiosity, as if he had merely stepped into a slightly redecorated version of the same world he remembered.
Cars rushed past them on the distant highway.
Humans walked the sidewalks nearby, completely unaware that two beings capable of ending civilizations stood among them.
Seraphine crossed her arms.
“You’re taking this disturbingly well
