[Leif's POV —Midnight,ThorenVald Estate]
Sleep did not come gently.
It dragged me under like cold water, sudden and heavy, yanking the ground out from under my feet. One moment, I was sinking into blankets… the next—
Darkness.
Except… not empty.
Gold threads wove through the black, strands of light like veins in stone. They pulsed, slow at first… then faster. Faster. Until they were beating in time with the marble that used to sit against my chest.
Ba-dum.
Ba-dum.
Ba-dum.
The darkness tore open like paper.
—And I stood somewhere else.
A hall. Vast. Endless. Columns stretching up into a sky of stars, not a ceiling. Light pooled beneath my feet, each step rippling across a mirrored floor. My breath steamed like cold winter, even though no air stirred.
My breath fogged in the air as if I stood in winter's mouth.
And then—
"Renji…"
I froze. My real name. Again. I turned slowly.
