There you are.
Cold slid down my spine.
“No,” I whispered.
Nova stepped closer immediately. “Maeve, what’s happening?”
I tried to answer, but my throat refused to cooperate.
The presence settled deeper, quiet and confident, as though it had stepped into a place it already knew.
You feel it, don’t you?
The voice moved through my mind with unsettling ease.
That awakening. Bright enough for anyone to notice. Congratulations. I always knew one of my kin would be able to break barriers.
My stomach lurched. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping it would break the connection.
It didn’t.
You have always been easy to find, Maeve especially when you worry.
My knees gave out.
Nova caught my arms before I hit the ground, while Twobble grabbed my sleeve with a startled yelp.
“Maeve!” he shouted.
The darkness disappeared, and I was somewhere else entirely.
The courtyard dissolved.
Stone rose around me, smooth and black, lit by slow-burning torches that gave off more shadow than light.
I stood at the far end of a long hall, and the Priestess stood at the other.
Mariselle didn’t move when I appeared. She simply watched me the way a predator watches prey. They’re interested, patient, and already certain how it would end.
“So,” she said at last, her voice echoing softly against the walls. “You found the thread.”
My heart hammered in my chest. “Where is she?”
The Priestess tilted her head slightly, as if amused that I’d skipped every other possible question.
Behind her, movement caught my eye.
A figure stood several steps back in the dim torchlight.
My mother.
I couldn’t tell if her hands were bound at the wrists. Her shoulders were straight, but her face looked pale in the flickering light.
“Mom!” I took a step forward.
The hall stretched strangely beneath my feet, as though the distance between us refused to shorten.
My mother’s head lifted a little, like she felt something shift in the air.
