Author's POV Night came heavy over the estate, the kind of night that did not feel like rest but like waiting. Everything inside the mansion had gone quiet hours ago, the corridors dimmed, the staff withdrawn, the world outside reduced to distant sounds that never quite reached the upper rooms. Jem had fallen asleep without realizing how tired he was, his body sinking into the bed as though it had finally accepted silence as normal again. But somewhere deep in the stillness, something changed.It started as pain.Sharp. Sudden. Right in his chest.Jem jerked awake immediately, breath catching in his throat as his hand flew to his chest. His eyes snapped open in the dark room, the ceiling above him barely visible, but the pain was so real it didn’t feel like his own. It was foreign, like something being pulled through him from far away. His breathing became uneven as he sat up quickly, his back pressing against the headboard. For a few seconds, he couldn’t even think properly, ju
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