The scar in the sky did not disappear.
It stayed there like a thin black line across silver light.
Seraphine stood before it for a long time.
She did not blink.
She did not move.
She was listening.
The world between had its own sounds. Not like wind or water. More like pressure shifting. Like distant echoes of something old.
And beneath it all—
A heartbeat.
Not hers.
Not Lucien’s.
Something deeper.
She pressed her hand lightly against the scar.
It pulsed once.
Slow.
Waiting.
“You said this was only the beginning,” she whispered into the quiet. “So come properly next time.”
The air grew still.
Too still.
Then—
A sharp ripple moved across the threshold.
Not at the scar.
Behind her.
Seraphine spun around.
The silver ground split open in a thin line.
Dark mist slipped
