“You …” A shudder rolls through his body, the words stalling at the tip of his tongue.
He looks up at Ezra, his voice hollow.
“Ezra—Ezra, fuck—she’s the … you don’t see it? She’s—” Iain’s eyes go wide. “The last. Ezra. She’s the Last Daughter.”
The words crash through me, echoing in my bones and rattling my ribs.
I can’t breathe.
I can’t blink.
Ezra’s shadows—the ones that worship me, the ones that reach for me like I’m the center of their universe—recoil. They press against the wall. Not in fear, but in respect. Recognizing something greater, something beyond even them.
Louie cracks her knuckles and checks the windows. Her body goes taut, bristling with the kind of tension that precedes a fight. I don’t know if it’s instinct or something deeper that’s putting her on high alert. But she’s in full protector mode, and I love her for it.
Ezra’s watching me. His lips move, but the thrumming in my ears drowns him out.
The world narrows, and everything tilts inward.
I should’ve known. Should’ve felt something. But all I feel is sick. Like I swallowed glass, and now it’s carving through my insides, twisting with every breath.
Emme hums, utterly pleased with herself. No kindness. No support. Just smug as hell.
A smile curls somewhere deep in my mind, the kind that says she’s been waiting for this moment.
“See?” she whispers, brushing along the edge of my temporal lobe. “You finally get it now.”
Her voice lingers, sour and sticky, as hot gorge rises at the back of my throat.
So, I shove it down, because I don’t know what else to do.
I really don’t fucking want to ask, but I do anyway.
“What does that mean? The Last Daughter?”
I look from the shade to the wrakh, then back to the shade.
Iain? He looks away from me.
And Ezra? He just keeps staring.
I don’t know if I expected comfort or reassurance. Maybe just a solid “You’re fine,” then dinner and drinks at The Cardinal.
But nope. All I get is doom and two ancient creatures watching me in abject horror.
When Ezra speaks, his voice is quiet and careful. Not cold. Not warm. Just … final.
“This changes everything.”
For who?
For me?
For him?
What the fuck?
His shadows shift again. Not retreating this time but settling, holding the space around me.Around us. The air thickens. The walls press in. The weight of it wraps around my ribs, tight and suffocating.
