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CHAPTER 38

Author: ANNA COLLINS
last update Last Updated: 2025-06-23 16:38:19

I didn’t sleep the night after we uncovered Vareya’s name.

The wind had begun to change, carrying with it the kind of cold that didn’t touch the skin, but the soul. Every sound in the palace felt heavier, every flicker of candlelight more uncertain. Even the Hollow Crown once a steady glow beside my bed had dimmed.

I sat at my desk and stared at the cracked sigil Dahlia had drawn the night before. Not the Gate. Not the throne. Just a symbol that pulsed between both.

A broken circle. An open mouth. A single eye at its center.

It was appearing in strange places.

On walls.

On skin.

On dreams.

It was her mark.

Vareya had begun her return.

The Disappearance

Rafael found me before dawn.

"Two Hollow-born from the city quarter have vanished. And another Crescent noble’s daughter the one who came to ask for protection she’s missing too."

"Taken?"

He nodded. "No blood. No signs of struggle. Just...gone. And each time her mark appears."

I stood, rage and dread coiling inside me.

"Then she’s not
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