Lucian's POV
The night after the veil split was drenched in silence.
Not the kind that soothed, but the kind that pressed against the chest, heavy, suffocating, like the world was holding its breath.
The apothecary still smoldered, though the flames had long died. Silver ash coated the ground, mixing with the faint shimmer of broken runes. I stood at the heart of the ruins, the Bloodstone Feather clutched in my hand, its glow faint and unsteady. Eldric had said the bond was complete, that I had tethered my soul to Selene's. But every moment that passed without her voice felt like a knife twisting deeper.
And then, she appeared.
At first, I thought I was hallucinating, the shock had done stranger things to my mind before. But when she stepped out of the lingering mist, her hair glowed in the moonlight, her eyes a familiar silver that made my chest ache. Her clothes were torn, her aura dimmer, but it was her. My Selene.
