Through the bond, Casius felt it.
The exact moment the blade pierced her heart.
Not pain—she was too strong to let that bleed through—
But absence.
A sudden, terrible silence where her presence had always been.
His knees buckled.
Across the collapsing realm, Dorian and Malena struggled to hold the portal open, their power straining to keep it from tearing apart completely.
They couldn’t reach her.
Couldn’t let go.
If the portal fell, the last survivors would die between worlds.
And Alina—
Alina already knew that.
"No," he breathed.
And then he was moving.
Through the portal. Through the screams of his children. Through Lucian's desperate grab for his arm.
He crossed the threshold between worlds in three strides.
Alina's legs gave out.
She fell to her knees, hands clutchin
