The moment the chamber declared me returned, every wall in the room ignited.
Lines of silver light shot through the stone like veins filling with hot blood. Sigils brightened across the floor. The pedestal hummed, rising an inch as though awakening from centuries of sleep. The air thickened with an energy so old and so potent my aura convulsed in answer.
The breath left my lungs in a violent rush. My vision shattered into white shards.
Then pain hit.
Not sharp. Not stabbing. Resonant.
My aura slammed outward and rebounded, a tremor that ran through my bones so fast I staggered. My knees buckled under the weight of it. A cry tore from my throat before I could stop it.
“Lainey,” Jack shouted.
I barely heard him.
The entire chamber pulsed in time with my heartbeat. Every sigil on the
