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The pathway is gone.

Severed.

A terrible silence settles inside my chest.

“Calla?”

She doesn’t move.

I brush her hair away from her face.

“Darling?”

Nothing.

I sit upright, gathering her into my arms.

“Calla. Wake up.”

Her head falls against my shoulder.

Her breathing remains steady.

Her heart beats beneath my palm.

But her consciousness…

Curse the fates.

Her consciousness is gone.

I reach into the darkness beyond her sleeping mind.

And feel him.

A presence older than kingdoms.

Colder than death.

Familiar.

My father’s voice fills the room.

You took something that belonged to me, my son.

I clutch Calla tighter.

“Bring her back.”

A low laugh echoes through the darkness.

Now you know what it is to lose what you love.

The windows shatter.

Every light in the apartment explodes.

I rise with Calla in my arms, my power tearing through the room.