I collapse into the nursery, curl on the floor beside Chelsea’s cot. She stirs, sensing me, even in sleep. I brush a hand through her dark curls and whisper his name without thinking. “Kallus…”
She shifts, blinks awake. Her eyes are violet and gold in the moonlight.
“Mommy sad?” she asks.
I try to smile. “No, baby. Mommy’s just missing someone.”
She reaches up, her fingers soft against my cheek. “Don’t cry, Mommy.”
I kiss her hand, hold it there.
Behind us, the door creaks.
Frederick stands in the hallway, watching. Cold eyes. Unreadable face.
I don’t flinch.
Let him see. Let him fume. Let him burn.
I turn back to Chelsea, all that matters in this universe.
“Kallus,” I whisper again. “Please, if you’re out there… I need you.”
And for a moment, just a heartbeat, I swear I feel something.
A jolt.
A flash.
Red eyes.
Snapping open in the dark.
But it’s probably nothing.
Just a memory.
Just a wish I’m too scared to hope for anymore.
CHAPTER 19
KALLUS
Darkness.
Still. Endless. Complete.
It cradles me like a tomb.
No breath. No pain. Just void.
Then—
“Kallus…”
Her voice slices through the silence like lightning across an obsidian sky. It’s faint, barely more than a ripple in the ether, but it’s enough. The torpor shatters.
My body convulses.
