The chamber did not feel the same when Nyx returned.
Nothing had changed—
And yet everything had.
The air still carried the same quiet weight. The shadows still moved where there was no light. The witches still watched without speaking.
But now—
Nyx understood something she hadn’t before.
This place did not care who won.
Only what survived.
Ronan was the first to step toward her.
“You were gone too long.”
You could see the concern in his eyes.
Nyx met his gaze. She also felt it. His tension. His fear that something might happen to her.
“I needed answers.”
“And did you get them?”
A pause.
“Enough.”
Not the truth.
Not the whole truth.
But enough.
The others gathered slowly.
Magnus.
Kael.
Lucien.
A space remained where Seraphine had stood.
No one mentioned it.
That s
