The shadows in my quarters seemed heavier now that I knew the realm itself was fraying at the edges. Sleep wouldn't come. Every time my eyelids grew heavy and my exhaustion deepened, I felt it—that familiar, insidious poke at the corners of my consciousness. The Dreamweaver was waiting for me to weaken, testing the boundaries of my mind like a wolf pacing the perimeter of a fence, looking for the slightest fracture in my walls. It was a cold, rhythmic thrumming, a phantom hunger that vibrated against the base of my skull, reminding me that even in the heart of the palace, I was never truly alone.
React with your head, not your chest, Seth’s voice echoed in my thoughts.
Usually, the intrusion would make me panic, my magic flaring up defensively and turning the air thick and suffocating. B
