The heart was still beating.

Not metaphorically.

Literally.

It pulsed inside a glass casket woven with silver glyphs, beating once every seven seconds like it remembered life... or was waiting to return to it.

And the moment I touched the casket, I felt it.

A tether.

A whisper.

A bond that should’ve died with her.

My mother.

The chamber was sealed beneath the Flame Vault, hidden behind three layers of blood-locked magic. Only someone with her lineage or power strong enough to rival ...