جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 70

The Veil had never trembled before.Not even when the Ancients tore through reality. Not when Lucien died. Not when I shattered eternity itself.But now…The ground beneath my feet pulsed like a heartbeat that didn’t belong to this world.I stood frozen at the cliff’s edge while silver mist twisted violently around the pillars of ancient stone. The sky above the Veil flickered moonlight stuttering like a dying flame.Something was forcing its way through reality.Not slipping through.Not sneaking.Forcing.Caelum grabbed my arm.“Step back.”I didn’t move.My gaze was locked on the center of the Veil where space itself was beginning to bend.The air warped.Like glass under too much pressure.“Seraphine,” Caelum said sharply.Still I didn’t move.Because the presence I’d felt earlier…The one that had been distant…Was now right on the other side of existence.And it was massive.Older than anything I had ever sensed.Not like the Ancients.Not like guardians.This was something else

The Veil should have calmed after he left.Instead, it grew worse.The silver mist that once flowed like quiet water now twisted violently between the ancient pillars. The sky flickered in uneven pulses, like a heartbeat skipping inside the bones of the world.I stared at the moon.The fracture was no longer subtle.A thin crack of darkness ran across its surface like a scar splitting open.My stomach tightened.“That wasn’t there yesterday,” I said quietly.Caelum didn’t answer immediately.He stood beside me at the cliff’s edge, his ancient gaze fixed on the sky.Finally he exhaled.“No,” he said. “It wasn’t.”Cold dread crawled up my spine.“He said the moon is dying.”“Yes.”“You don’t sound surprised.”Caelum turned to look at me.“I suspected something was wrong after your ritual.”My jaw tightened.“You didn’t mention that.”“You had just shattered eternity,” he said dryly. “I thought you deserved a moment to breathe before I told you the sky might collapse.”I almost laughed.

The Veil refused to settle.The mist churned violently between the pillars, silver light flashing like distant lightning through the sky. The crack across the moon stretched wider now thin, but undeniable.Something inside it was pushing outward.And somewhere in the world beyond the Veil…He was still there.I could feel him.That was the worst part.The bond pulsed faintly beneath my ribs, like a quiet heartbeat that didn’t belong to me.I hated it.Caelum was watching me carefully.“You’re pale,” he said.“I’m fine.”“You’re lying.”“Correct.”He crossed his arms.“That name he used Astraea.”The word alone made my stomach tighten.“You said it belonged to you before you became Seraphine.”“Yes.”“That name predates the guardians.”“I know.”Caelum studied me in silence.“You never told me that.”“There was no reason to.”“Apparently there is now.”The bond pulsed again.Sharper this time.Pain flickered through my chest.I sucked in a breath.Caelum noticed immediately.“It’s happ

The human world smelled wrong.Seraphine noticed it the moment they stepped out of the Veil.Smoke.Metal.Engines.Too many humans packed into too little space.Cities had grown like steel forests since the last time she had walked this world.Lights covered the horizon.Glass towers pierced the sky.And above all of itThe moon hung cracked.Seraphine felt it like a wound inside her chest.Beside her, the immortal looked around with mild curiosity, as if he had merely stepped into a slightly redecorated version of the same world he remembered.Cars rushed past them on the distant highway.Humans walked the sidewalks nearby, completely unaware that two beings capable of ending civilizations stood among them.Seraphine crossed her arms.“You’re taking this disturbingly well.”He shrugged.“Cities come and go.”“You’ve seen this before?”“Many times.”His eyes drifted upward to the fractured moon.“But never like this.”Seraphine followed his gaze.The crack had widened.Not enough for

The forest had not changed.That was the first thing Seraphine noticed as she stepped beneath the towering pines of Nightfall territory.The air smelled the same.Earth.Rain.Wolf.The pack had always chosen strong land. Ancient land. The kind of territory that held power in its bones.It should have comforted her.Instead, it hurt.Every step deeper into the forest felt like reopening an old wound.Beside her, the immortal moved silently through the trees, his presence unnaturally still compared to the restless life around them.“You’re slowing down,” he said quietly.Seraphine didn’t answer.She knew these paths.Every turn.Every stream.Every ridge where wolves trained under the moon.Memories attacked her from every direction.Lucien laughing during a hunt.The sound of young wolves wrestling in the clearing.The warmth of the pack house during winter storms.She stopped abruptly.Ahead, through the treesLights.Nightfall Pack.The compound had grown since she last saw it.More