登入“Kael!”I grabbed his shoulders.He didn't respond.His eyes were open, but they weren't looking at me.They were black.Completely black.The Alpha Mark on his chest burned through his clothes, spreading silver and black lines across his skin.I had never seen anything like it.“Kael, look at me.”Nothing.Nia rushed toward us.“Don't touch the mark!”I immediately pulled my hand away.“Why?”“It isn't his mark anymore.”My stomach dropped.“What does that mean?”Eryx looked toward the black gate.“He's being connected to it.”“To what?”Before Eryx could answer, the voice returned.“The Alpha has returned.”The black gate trembled.Something moved behind it.Kael suddenly gasped.His body bent forward.I caught him before he fell.“Kael!”His fingers grabbed my arm.His grip was painfully tight.“Lira…”His voice was his again.I almost cried with relief.“I'm here.”“Run.”“No.”“Please.”He looked at me.For the first time, I saw fear in his eyes.“Lira, you have to leave.”“I won
I stared at the woman standing at the end of the bridge.She had my face.My eyes.My voice.Even the same small scar near my eyebrow.But there was something about her that made my skin crawl.She looked peaceful.Too peaceful.Behind her stood the golden castle.I could hear laughter coming from inside.Children.Families.People who were supposed to be dead.My mother was there.I could feel it.Somewhere inside that castle, she was alive.The woman extended her hand.“You can bring them all back.”My throat tightened.“Everyone?”“Yes.”“The Guardians?”“Yes.”“My mother?”“Yes.”She smiled.“Everyone you lost.”I looked at Kael.He was staring at the woman with suspicion.“Don't listen to her.”The woman laughed softly.“Why not?”“Because nothing comes without a price.”She looked at him.“You're right.”Then she turned to me.“There is a price.”My heart sank.“What?”“You.”Kael stepped forward.“No.”The woman continued.“Not your life.”I frowned.“Then what?”“Your place in
“Why didn't you save me?”The question echoed through the darkness.I couldn't move.Thousands of people stood before me.Their faces were pale.Their clothes were torn.Some carried wounds.Others looked exactly as they had the day I remembered losing them.My mother stood among them.The First Queen was at the front.And behind them all were the Guardians.The people I had supposedly killed.My chest tightened.“No…”The First Queen stepped forward.“You wanted the truth.”“I didn't ask for this.”“You asked to remember.”“I didn't ask to suffer.”Her expression softened.“Sometimes they are the same thing.”I shook my head.“This isn't real.”A man stepped out of the crowd.I recognized him.One of the first Guardians.His name came back to me.Aren't.He had been kind to me.He had taught me how to control the balance.He had called me sister.Now his chest was covered in blood.“You killed me,” he said.My throat tightened.“I know.”“Why?”“I don't know.”“You knew.”He stepped
I landed on soft grass.For several seconds, I didn't move.I simply lay there, staring at the sky.It was blue.A normal blue.No silver cracks.No black clouds.No armies.No darkness.Just sunlight.Warm sunlight.I slowly sat up.“Kael?”No answer.I turned around.“Nia?”Nothing.“Eryx?”Silence.My heart began racing.I jumped to my feet.“Kael!”Still nothing.I looked around.I was standing in a meadow filled with wildflowers.A small stream ran through the middle of it.Birds flew between the trees.Everything was peaceful.Too peaceful.I touched my chest.The heart was quiet.My Balance Mark was gone.I stared at my wrist.Nothing.No silver light.No mark.Nothing.A strange feeling spread through me.For the first time in what felt like forever, I was ordinary.I smiled.Then I immediately became suspicious.“This is a trap.”A voice behind me laughed.“Maybe.”I spun around.My heart stopped.Kael stood there.But he wasn't wearing armor.He wasn't holding a sword.He wo
The voice inside the palace was mine.I knew it.There was no mistaking it.The same tone.The same slight pause between words.The same quiet confidence I heard whenever I spoke to myself in my thoughts.But there was something different about it.Something colder.Something cruel.“You should have stayed dead.”Kael tightened his grip around my hand.“Lira.”I couldn't answer.I was staring at the palace doors.They were wide open now.Beyond them was darkness.Not ordinary darkness.It looked like the palace had swallowed every bit of light that entered it.Nia stepped closer.“Don't go in.”I looked at her.“Why?”“Because whatever is inside knows you.”Seraphine gave a quiet laugh.“She knows herself.”Nia glared at her.“What exactly are you hiding?”Seraphine's expression became serious.“I'm not hiding anything.”“You've already told us that Lira fought the Guardians.”“Because she did.”I shook my head.“I don't remember.”“You will.”Seraphine looked toward the palace.“That
The sky was splitting apart.I stood at the edge of the mountain, staring at the silver cracks spreading across the heavens.They weren't clouds.They weren't lightning.They looked like wounds.Thin lines of silver light stretched from one horizon to the other, branching across the dark sky. Every few seconds, one of them widened, revealing something beyond it.A different sky.A different land.A different world.My heart pounded.“What am I looking at?” I whispered.Nia stood beside me.“The Veil.”I turned toward her.“The Veil?”“The barrier between our world and the others.”I looked back at the sky.“So it's breaking.”She nodded.“Faster than it ever has before.”Kael approached us.“Can we stop it?”Nia didn't answer immediately.That was enough.My stomach tightened.“Nia.”She finally looked at me.“I don't know.”Kael frowned.“You always have an answer.”“Not this time.”A loud crack echoed through the sky.Everyone looked upward.One of the silver openings widened.Somet







