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Chapter 66: The Marked Divide
The safehouse reeked of smoke and antiseptic.
Dante sat on the edge of a broken cot, armor peeled away, chest bared to the flickering lantern-light. The spiral mark burned faintly across his skin, black lines etched deep into muscle, glowing in time with some rhythm not his own. Every few seconds it pulsed, sending a jolt through his veins that left his hands shaking.
Aria crouched before him, her eyes closed, one trembling hand hovering over the mark. Threads of resonance drifted between her fingers like strands of light, tracing the wound.
“It’s alive,” she whispered, voice taut with fear. “It’s not just a scar. It’s… a channel.”
Mira leaned against the door, arms crossed, knives glinting in her belt. “Channel to what?”
Aria’s eyes opened, meeting
