Kael’s POV

The silence before Seraphine spoke was heavier than her words. She watched me as if measuring the point where reason turned into ruin. The room felt smaller, like her presence pressed against the walls, testing what I would deny. I already knew the shape of her warning before she gave it, but knowing didn’t make it easier to hear. Some truths arrive like echoes; you recognize them only after they start breaking everything familiar.

, “She carries more than you see,” Seraphine ...