Better now,comes the reply, a flicker of amusement pushing through the exhaustion.I hope we’ve got a plan.
Nolan takes my hand, focusing his power on the barrier spell he’s crafting around the whole area. The shield flickers again.
I feel it in my bones, in the tremble of Nolan’s fingers laced with mine, in the sweat beading at his temple. My magic is already feeding his. But it’s not enough. Not anymore. Another wraith hound slams against the barrier, and Nolan stumbles, almost taking me down with him.
“Nolan,” I gasp, bracing him. “Stay with me.”
“I—” he grits out, “I’m trying.”
And then Kael is there. He doesn’t ask. Just steps behind me and presses his palm flat against my spine, right at the base ofmy neck—bare skin meeting his shadow-coated magic like they were made for each other.
The power jumps instantly, sizzling through me like a live wire. My knees buckle, and only Kael’s hand at my back and Nolan’s grip in my palm keep me upright.
Then comes Raiden, he’s as big as any of the wraith hounds, at least five feet tall on all fours.
Still in his fox form, he doesn’t shift back, but his muzzle nudges my neck, warm breath fanning over my throat. One tail wraps around my ankle, grounding me. The other eight flare wide as static rolls off his fur. His power finds mine like a spark hitting dry leaves. Fast. Hungry.
And everything breaks open.
I gasp as the energy slams through me; three forces pulling, pushing,binding. The threads of Nolan’s spell solidify again, brighter and thicker than before. But something else is happening too.
A heat low in my core spreads, rushing out in every direction. Light flares under my skin—brilliant and too much to hold. It builds and builds, and I realize too late that I can’t contain it.
“Let go!” I scream, but it’s already too late.
The magic explodes.
A rush of color and sound tears through the courtyard. White-gold light streaked with violet and shadow erupts from where we stand, throwing the monsters back, burning the ones closest to the barrier alive. I feel it arc out—throughme. And then something snaps.
Marks burn into existence. Invisible to the eye, but Ifeelthem. One on Nolan’s wrist, echoing the hand he used to hold mine. One over Raiden’s heart, pulsing in time with mine. And one on Kael’s palm, where he still touches the base of my neck.
They collapse like puppets with strings cut. And I fall with them.
The courtyard falls silent. The monsters retreat. The breach flickers once…then all I know is darkness.
I wakewith no air in my lungs.
Not because I’m choking or drowning or gasping from pain, but because there’s nothing here. No sound. No breath. No heartbeat.
Just light. And darkness.
It bleeds through mist and shadow, flickering like moonlight on water. I’m standing barefoot, in the dress still clinging to my skin, but the ground beneath me isn’t solid. It pulses under my feet like a heartbeat. The world around me is...impossible.
Endless trees stretch out in every direction. Not normal trees turn into twisted things, veined with silver and flickering in and out of focus, as if they’re not entirely real. Above me, the sky is cracked like glass, and beyond it...stars. Or maybe not stars. Maybe they are eyes.
I spin slowly, breath catching.
“Hello?” My voice doesn’t echo. It doesn’t even sound like me. It sounds smaller. Fainter, almost as if I whispered the word.
Something moves at the edge of the trees.
I turn toward it, but the moment I try to move toward it, the distance shifts. The trees are farther away. No matter how fast I walk, they never get closer.
Another movement. This time to my left. A shape. Broad shoulders. Familiar eyes in the mist.
“Nolan?” I call.
He turns, but not fully. Like he’s underwater, blurry and unreachable. His lips move—my name, maybe—but I can’t hear him. I can’t reach him.
