Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 31 - Chapitre 40

The church was quiet except for my breath, still gasping, still rattling in my chest like something had jarred loose inside me. The shadows of Shadow’s End had tried to claim me, to take me under and drag me down to make me theirs, and I had barely — barely — fought my way back.My shoulders hadn’t shaken free of Maxwell’s grip. His gaze never left my eyes, surging as if he wasn’t really convinced that I was back.I let out a slow breath, and forced steadiness into my voice. “Max, I’m okay.”His jaw tightened. “You weren’t.”I swallowed hard. “But I am now.”He didn’t let go. “What did it do to you?”I paused, as the heft of the experience bore down on me, pressing against my ribs. “It tried to keep me there. It gave to me an image of my father, my home. It wanted me to stay.”Jameson cursed, pacing back from us. “That’s what this place does. “It goes right for your weak spot and settles in.”Soraya crossed her arms. “And if it had almost gotten Lena, then we’re out of time.”Maxwell 

It didn’t creep in this time. It came pouring—a torrent of inky blackness devouring me whole, sinking its fangs into my consciousness before I even had the time to steel myself.This time, my father was not an illusion.No warped version of my childhood home.This time, it didn’t pretend.The presence enveloped me, immeasurable and never-ending.This time you came of your own accord.Its voice was no longer a whisper. It was everywhere. In the air, in my bones, in the rhythmic pulse of my body.I steeled myself. “I have questions.”A chuckle, low and amused. "Of course you do."I exhaled slowly. “The Council. The sacrifices. The blood. Why?”Silence stretched. Then—“Because they were afraid of what would happen if they stopped.”I frowned. “And what would happen?”Another chuckle. “Isn’t that what you’re here to discover?”I gritted my teeth. “Enough games.”The darkness moved, closed about me, constricting, pressing.“I do not play games, little Guardian. I simply wait. And watch. A

What I said just before my tumble bore the heaviness of gravity — a lot of gravity.“She wants me to complete what she started.”No one spoke. No one moved. It was as if speaking it had rearranged something internally, that it had made it real between us.Maxwell didn’t loosen his grip on my arms. If anything he was holding me tighter, as if scared I would slip away. “And what do you want, Lena?” His voice was low, steady — but there was something else under it. Something frayed.I swallowed hard. “I don’t know.”Jameson gave a cruel laugh, one without a trace of real humor. “Well, not quite the answer we were looking for, but hey, at least you’re honest.”I shot him a look. “This isn’t a joke.”His smirk faded. “I know.” His eyes darkened. “That’s why it’s terrifying.”Soraya cocked her head and considered me as if I were a puzzle she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to solve. “She taught you something, didn’t she?”I hesitated. “Yes.”Maxwell tensed beside me. “What did she show you?

The heavy weight of what I had seen in the vision still followed me. It stuck to my skin like frost, burrowing under my bones, so that every step I took was increasingly loaded and heavier. I knew where the tethers were located. I knew where to go.But to know and to do were two completely different things.We sat in the darkened study, city map laid out before us. Flame flared from a few candles sprinkled along the perimeter of the table, their dim light the only radiance in the chaste place. Maxwell stood with his arms crossed, his jaw set, and Soraya leaned over the map and traced the locations with a gloved finger. Jameson, pacing and tapping his boots impatiently against the hardwood floor.I was at the center of all this, crushing under the weight of expectation.“The ruins,” Soraya said, tapping the first mark on the map. “They’re ancient. Ancient by the standards of the Council itself. If a tether exists, it’s buried deep.”“And the catacombs,” added Jameson. “No surprise. Tha

For a moment, silence—a thick, heavy, absolute silence. Not the hush of quiet, but the weight of a thing unseen, watching, waiting.Then, the air shifted.A gust of stale, frigid air traveled down the cramped tunnel, reeking of damp earth and something metallic — old blood, perhaps, or the aftereffects of long-ago death.Instinctively I reached for Maxwell’s hand, our fingertips grazing. He didn’t flinch, only tightened his hold. Solid. Steady. A tether to something real.Soraya muttered a spell, and something like a spark flickered to life in her palm, telling the jagged stone walls of the catacombs. The tunnel ahead was long and winding, and it disappeared into darkness. Old runes had been carved into the walls—some ancient and few, others wearing out over time, others glowing ever so softly, as if the castor still remembered what its purpose was.Jameson let out a low breath. “Well, this is horrifying.”Soraya didn’t look up. “Focus.”“I am focused. I’m just also acknowledging that