Darkness crushed in on me like hands around my throat.
My mother’s scream echoed through my skull. Runes burned behind my eyes. The vessel’s face twisted into something monstrous. Ember cried my name. Calix’s shadow yawned open like a pit beneath my feet.
I jolted awake with a scream.
**********
My whole body lurched upward. My lungs refused to pull in air. My vision swam. I did not know where I was for a second, only that everything hurt and everything tasted like fear.
Nathan caught me instantly.
His hands wrapped around my shoulders and pulled me against his chest. His voice came low and raw against my hair. “Margot. You are here. I have you.”
I clung to him without thinking. My breath came in sharp, tearing gasps. The mark burned like fire under my skin. The memory of my mother
