ci

t dream. Yet t

ll smoldering. The wind hissed through the ash, carrying the scent of blood and hone

en-I s

ol

ike torn wings. Her eyes were moonstone, her lips the shade of old br

was not hers. It echoed, layered, as if ten

mean to,"

n the drea

pressed my thumb to the hinge of the gate. Her b

rom the trees poured figures-shadows made flesh, the

ached f

d

h her name

ol

ackwood table. Outside, dawn had not yet touched the sky. The night clu

northern cliffs of Duskmere. The Hollow Moon, still low on the horizon, hung lik

until the gat

until she s

e her hands had been when I ki

not fl

hould

ad taken root. I had seen it the moment the thorn pricked her-a g

would un

would com

not al

nly the spirits stirred, whispering through tapestries and keyholes, drawn to my unrest lik

ed with runes older than the kingdom its

ed my blood. The

, time

d of dust and lavender, and something more metallic

speak. Here, among the cracked tomes

wer. Not f

r

of what she

The Veilborn Codex. Stolen from the ruined Sanctum of Solheim before

passage where befor

Wolf and summon the Keeper. The Bride shall walk between th

ghtened on

Wolf. Kee

these

Myself

x named

. Something older

ehind me-whisper-

ams of f

man's figure shimmered in the reflection, translucent, wearing a c

he spirit murmured. "An

't remembe

Veil reme

led. "And so

vani

ndles

the Codex heavy in my hand,

the eastern windows, pale and anemic. Duskmere was not a castle me

dow, always one corridor behind me. I ignored him. We had an agreement, after all:

crossed the threshold into

e an ember on the verge of becoming flame. Her dreamscape flickered faintly beneath the surf

, she had

efore temptation

I had broken enoug

he chapel ruins. The air changed there. It always did. The stone was

s here I

vi

ke flame against paper, testing for weakness. I pressed my hand to the stone

t fal

s were c

k and poisonous. He had waited too long. The Bride's blood had called

sed m

gether. Brothers in oath, not blood. Kings of the dusk. But des

chose

hosen e

have chosen

h it never felt alive. Servants drifted through the halls like stitched wraiths, polite and distant. The kitchens

solde in

oomed out of season, violet and veined like bruises. Her finge

the garde

rtled. But not

she said. "The doors were o

eplied. "It remember

. "Do you speak in

the truth i

sed between us, stret

ed, "What am

Sharp. No

d that a

," I said. "But you are no

another

at's a

Hollow Moon, now risen in fu

ered. "It opened, and something

oat ti

st not

she said. "It

eavy with the scent

eet, I felt the earth s

urned to mine. Un

e," she said. "And I don't know if

ped fo

f the truth. The crimson gleam behind my eyes. The ghost

d not

epped

ind s

Until you remember why you we