The ruby screamed.
Not with sound.
With light.
The moment Aiden crossed whatever invisible boundary guarded the outer tunnels, the stone on the pedestal flared so violently that the chamber was flooded in red.
The glow spiked sharp and erratic, shadows jerking wildly along the walls as if the stone itself were trying to tear free of its restraints.
I cried out, more in shock than pain, my hands flying to the floor to steady myself.
"No," Maelis hissed, spinning toward the pedestal. "No hold steady."
The ruby pulsed again, brighter, faster.
Hungry.
It wasn't reaching for me.
It was reaching for him.
I felt it then, sudden and horrifyingly clear.
"Oh," I whispered. "I think it knows him."
Maelis's head snapped toward me. "What did you say?"
"The stone," I said, my voice trembling as another surge rippled through the chamber. "It recognizes him. Like… like it remembers him hands."
The ruby flared again, crimson light surging outward in jagged waves.
