From the inky dark, a woman stepped forth. Her every motion was silent, deliberate, predatory in its elegance.
Vespera Ashborn.
The Shadow Monarch.
The matriarch of the Ashborn line, and Kaiden's mother.
Her crimson eyes flicked over the surroundings, lingering for a heartbeat on the frail woman lying on the stretcher, then settling on her son. There was no visible emotion on her face. No warmth. No coldness either, just a calm, abyssal neutrality.
Kaiden smiled crookedly. "I see you're still far too big an extrovert."
Naira's breath hitched as pure horror overcame her heart, unsure if he had lost his mind. This being was far too ominous for the native teen to even look at without her pulse increasing tenfold, yet Kaiden was joking with her?!
Kaiden, uncaring for the girl's inner turmoil, dryly added, "Honestly, you should speak a little less. No one can get a word in next to you."
"…"
The silence that followed could have frozen a volcano.
