The city was waking, but it felt wrong.

Not a single bell tolled, not a single market call rose above the streets. Windows rattled in their frames, shutters clanging against brick as though testing whether they still had a voice. And somewhere beneath it all, a hum thrummed, not low, not forgiving, but insistent, alive, and aware.

Liora felt it first.

She froze mid-step in the hall outside Silver’s room, her hand resting on the doorknob. The faint pulse that had been buried in the ...