Page 79 of Duskbound

"She's not coming out." The words felt like ash in my mouth. I watched realization creep into their faces. The silence that followed was deafening. Lord Skaldvindr's carefully neutral expression cracked, just for a moment, revealing something like genuine horror beneath.

"Valkan made sure of that."

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

The leathers feltheavy in my hands as I hung them in the wardrobe of my new quarters. Black and sleek, marked with patterns that identified me as Spectre. As Umbra. I ran my fingers over the material. The sound of footsteps down the hall had my eyes creeping towards the door. At least this time, I had a lock on my side instead of theirs.

I sank onto the edge of the bed, exhaustion seeping into my bones. The others had said the memories of the Void would fade—that the mind protected itself by burying the worst of what it showed you. But right now, every vision felt razor-sharp.

The Enclave. Leila's branding. Ma's horror. Laryk's... Each scene designed to break me, to make me surrender to the darkness. But it was the last vision that haunted me most. It felt different from the others. Real in a way the rest hadn't been.

I closed my eyes and replayed it in my mind. The woman—her long, unruly hair. The man who held her, his skin pale and devoid of color, shadows around his eyes. Their arms had tightened around each other, golden bracelets hanging on both of their arms,reflecting the raging fire surrounding them. The look that passed between them pulled at something inside me.

The Void had said it was the vision I'd been most waiting for, though I hadn't known I was waiting for anything at all. But something about it felt significant, even if I couldn't figure out why. The way they'd chosen to face the flames together... My eyes fell on my reflection in the small mirror above the washbasin.

Vexa's words echoed in my mind.You're far more than a Duskbound.

I traced the shadows beneath my eyes, so similar to the ones the man in my vision had worn. A Kalfar, clearly. But the woman...

I shook the thought away. The Void had shown me exactly what it knew would hurt most—my deepest fears, my hidden shames. Why should this vision be any different?

You're not like them.The Void had said.

I resumed my pacing, the stone floor cold beneath my feet. Even Aether had noticed something was different about me. He could see my web—something that should have been impossible.

I sank back onto the bed, my legs suddenly unable to hold me. The Umbra had been in Riftdremar trying to forge an alliance. I'd learned that much from Vexa and the others. They'd been there before the war, before the Soleils burned it all to ash. There would have been contact, negotiations. The timing would align with...

With what? I wasn't even sure what I was trying to piece together.

The woman's face flashed in my mind again. There had been something so achingly familiar about her features. About the way her hair had moved in the heat of the flames, wild and uncontrolled, like...

My hand flew to my own hair, fingers tangling in the white strands.

A Kalfar and an... Aossí? The thought felt dangerous even in my own mind. Were those Soleil flames surrounding them?

My fingers found my Riftborne branding, tracing the familiar mark. I'd carried it my whole life, a symbol of my parents' supposed treachery. But there was so much more to the story. So much I still didn't know.

My blood turned to ice. The golden bracelets. Like the one I had come to Sídhe with as a child—my only possession tying me to Riftdremar. To my family.

Was it even possible?

Half Kalfar, half Aossí. The possibility felt like a blade against my throat. It would explain so much—why I'd never felt at home in either realm, why my abilities had always been different. Why my web worked unlike anything they'd seen before. Why I looked like both, but neither at the same time.

But if it were true...

A knock at my door cut through my spiraling thoughts. I quickly wiped my face, not even realizing tears had fallen. When I opened the door, Aether stood there.

"Lael's awake," he said. "Eating everything in sight, actually."

Relief flooded through me, but confusion quickly followed. There was something different about the way he was looking at me. His eyes didn't hold that normal scowl.

"How are you feeling?"

The question caught me off guard. "Are you actually interested, or just making small talk?"

"I can go," he said, his eyes flickering to my face. "I've clearly caught you in the middle of something."

Heat rushed to my cheeks as I realized he could probably tell I'd been crying. But he motioned toward the piles of leather uniforms scattered across my bed, offering me an out.

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