Chapter 51
Ariana could still hear Kael's voice.
That was the only reason she had not fallen completely into the pull already.
"Ariana, stay with me."
The words reached her through the pressure, through the cracking ground, through the strange force that kept tightening around her like invisible hands. She wanted to answer him. She wanted to say something stronger than his name, something that would prove she was still fully there.
But her body did not feel fully hers anymore.
Her chest rose and fell too fast. Her hands trembled at her sides. The golden light under her skin flickered in uneven waves, and beneath it something older kept moving, restless and aware.
It was not waiting anymore.
It was choosing.
Ariana forced herself to look at Kael.
