Chapter 16: The Bond That Bleeds
Camille’s eyes opened as the first rays of dawn crept through the frost-laced windowpanes.
There was no grand flare of light. No scream. No flash of power or gust of wind. Just a slow, deliberate inhale like her lungs were waking after a long, deathless slumber and a silence so deep it split the room in two.
Across the estate, deep inside the eastern wing, Magnolia sat bolt upright in bed.
Her chest seized.
The bond silent since the collapse of the catacomb seal snapped taut across her ribcage like a noose yanked tight. The mark on her palm burned under the linen wrap. But it wasn’t pain. Not quite.
It was a whisper.
A word she didn’t hear with her ears.
Awake.
She didn’t panic.
Didn’t rush.
She rose, dressed in silence, and walked the stone corridors barefoot, her cloak dragging slightly behind her like the echo of a burden no one else could see. Guards straightened at her approach, lowering their heads without speaking. Even the walls felt like they were holding their breath.