AYLA'S POV
Stone, blood, Kael's hands on me—they all dissolved. I was falling through a void of smoke and whispers, a hollow place where no light lived.
When I landed, the ground wasn't ground at all—it was glass, slick with ash. My reflection stared back at me, but her eyes were black, mouth curling into a smile that wasn't mine.
Welcome home, the Hollow purred, her voice inside my skull, behind my teeth, beneath my skin.
I staggered, clutching my chest. "I'm not yours. I'll never be yours."
She stepped out of my reflection, tall and silver, her face my face but twisted sharp, cruel. Shadows poured from her skin, wrapping her like a gown. "You already are. He gave you to me the moment he killed her."
"No," I spat.
"Yes." Her smile widened. "You wanted Cassia's blood on your hands. He stole that from you. He broke your choice. Now you'll break him."
My wolf snarled inside me, furious. Not Kael. Never Kael.
