SERAPHINA’S POV
I didn’t bother asking Kieran what he meant.
Because I felt it.
My breath felt steadier. My thoughts no longer fractured under pressure. The fear was still there, but distant, muted, a pesky little emotion I could ignore.
And I understood the darkness instantly.
It wasn’t new. It was the embodiment of a war I had been fighting for a long time, simply taken on a different shape.
And everything was beginning to align like a broken seam being stitched closed.
“You made a mistake,” I said.
My voice carried differently now. Not louder, but heavier. Grounded in something that would not bend under pressure.
The darkness stayed frozen, as if it felt the difference.
I took a step forward into it.
“You thought you could trap me using a version of my past that no longer has a hold on me.”
The void trembled.
I exhaled slowly, feeling the final piece slotting into place with a satisfying click.
“I’m not that girl anymore.”
