SERAPHINA’S POV
The darkness did not stay contained to Jack’s former form.
It pressed in from every side of the courtyard, swallowing the fractured edges of reality until there was nothing left but a vast, suffocating expanse of black.
The manor, the Lockwoods, Catherine’s composed manipulation, even what was left of Jack—they all blurred and dissolved as if they had never been anchored to anything real in the first place.
Only Kieran remained.
His hand was still locked around mine, the only point of warmth in a world that had turned frigid.
I clung to him with everything I had, as though the simple act of letting go would mean losing the last thing tethering me to my own existence.
But even he began to flicker at the edges as the darkness shifted again.
And then it spoke.
Not with words at first, but with intent—pressure against my mind that weaved through my thoughts.
‘Accept me.’
