POV: Seraphina

Three days after the evacuation, I stood at the place where the gateway had been. Where reality had torn open to save us all. Now there was nothing. Just air and the strange forest of the old world.

But through my bond with Maya, I felt it. The tiniest thread of connection. A crack so small it was almost invisible. Almost, but not quite.

"You're sure it's there?" Nathan asked beside me. His empathic curse let him feel my certainty, but he wanted verbal confirmation ...