AYLA'S POV
I was falling—but not through air.
The light pulled me down like a tide, silent and endless, each heartbeat stretching into eternity. When my body hit solid ground, there was no sound. Just the faint, rhythmic hum of the Hollow breathing.
I pushed myself up, snow sliding off my shoulders. Except it wasn't snow. It was ash.
The sky here was a mirror turned upside down, filled with stars that bled instead of shone. My reflection stared back at me from the ground—eyes bright silver, hair threaded with shadow. I'd been here before. The Hollow Between Stars.
But this time, it felt alive.
Something moved beyond the fog. A whisper brushed against my ear. You came back.
I turned sharply. "Rylan?"
No answer—only laughter, low and soft, circling like a predator.
"Show yourself!" I shouted.
The fog thickened. When it cleared, he was standing there—Rylan, shirt torn, chest streaked with glowing veins of violet light. His expression was both familiar and wrong.
