The Hollow Between Heartbeats

The chanting stopped.

But the air didn't still.

It thickened.

Like the world had inhaled and forgotten how to exhale.

Magnolia's blood stained the old stone altar, soaking into ancient grooves carved by forgotten claws. The symbol on her hand glowed faintly, pulsing with a heat that wasn't fire but memory. Ancient and wild.

She kept her head bowed, ignoring the throb in her skull and the rising hum in her chest. The voices of the elders had faded into silence behind her, and still she waited.

Waited for the door to open.

For the gate in her blood to respond.

But nothing happened.

At first.

Then a breath not hers filled her lungs.

And a whisper followed.

"You shouldn't have called me."

Magnolia staggered back from the altar, clutching her chest.

The voice hadn't come from outside her.

It had risen from within.

The others around the circle tensed instantly. Beckett stepped forward. Rhett's claws were already half-shifted.

"Magnolia ?" Rhett said, voice hoarse.

She couldn't answer.

Her eyes rolled back, vision flooded with ash and flame.

Images bled into her mind Camille, bound in iron, standing on the edge of a cliff surrounded by hooded figures. Her mouth moved, but no sound reached Magnolia.

Then another face emerged.

Sterling Rhodes.

He stood beside Camille, hand resting on her shoulder like a leash. His mouth twisted into a smile.

And behind him…

Ashriel.

Not a form. Not a body.

A shadow shaped like man and monster both. Wings made of smoke. Eyes that bled light. Antlers curved back like a crown of bone.

His voice crashed like thunder across her mind.

"You called. Now I answer."

She screamed and the stone beneath her feet cracked.

The others rushed forward.

Beckett grabbed her arm, dragging her from the altar. Rhett slammed his palm to the floor, activating the silver runes inlaid in the shrine. A barrier flared around her, cutting off the energy flow.

Magnolia collapsed, breathing hard, skin drenched in sweat.

The mark on her hand had turned black.

Celeste crouched beside her. "She touched the gate."

"No," Magnolia whispered. "The gate touched me."

Rhett gritted his teeth. "It's not safe anymore. The altar's been compromised."

"It's worse than that," Celeste said grimly. "It recognized her. It wants her."

"She can't go back there," Beckett said.

"I have to," Magnolia said, sitting up slowly. "Camille's there. In his grasp."

Rhett shook his head. "It's a trap."

"She's my sister."

"She's his conduit."

"And I'm the bond."

Her voice was steel.

The room went silent again, but this time… it was obedience.

Not agreement.

Rhett didn't argue.

He just helped her to her feet, the fire in his eyes darkening.

The eastern crypt had always been sealed.

Even during war. Even during blood feuds.

No one went there.

Not since the Luna purge eighty years ago.

It was said to be the resting place of the wolves who had tried to merge with the realm of shadows those who believed in Ashriel's promise of eternal vision. They had died screaming, cursed and unmarked.

Until now.

Magnolia stood before the sealed door with Rhett and Beckett flanking her. The elders had refused to follow. Even Celeste had stayed back.

Too much history.

Too much fear.

The sigil on her hand pulsed like it was waiting to be close to the source.

She reached out and touched the center of the seal.

The stone cracked open.

Inside, the air was thick with dust and old power. Statues lined the walls wolves carved in agony. At the far end, a black pedestal stood, and on it, a crown of bone and flame.

Rhett whispered, "That's "

"His offering," Magnolia finished.

"It's real."

She stepped closer.

The ground shifted under her, like the floor breathed. Her footsteps echoed unnaturally.

Then a voice slithered through the chamber.

"Sister of the drowned. Daughter of betrayal. Come to wear the weight."

Beckett hissed, "Magnolia, don't "

But it was too late.

The sigil on her hand burst into light. She collapsed to her knees.

The world melted.

She was on the cliff.

The same one from the vision.

Camille stood ahead of her, pale, lips trembling. Chains bound her ankles, wrists, throat. The wind whipped around them like a storm caged in shadow.

"Camille," Magnolia called, running forward.

Her sister didn't move.

"Please look at me."

Camille's eyes lifted.

They were black.

"No," Magnolia whispered.

"Why didn't you save me?" Camille asked.

"I tried."

"You left me."

"I came back."

"You were supposed to hold on."

Magnolia reached for her.

But Camille vanished.

In her place, Ashriel rose.

Tall. Terrible. Impossible.

"She gave herself to me," he said. "You will too."

Magnolia stood her ground. "I'm not yours."

"You already are."

"No."

"She carries my name," he whispered. "And you carry her bond. That makes you my gate."

She turned.

And sprinted.

The world cracked behind her.

But she ran.

She woke with a gasp.

Rhett caught her before she hit the floor.

"You were out for thirty seconds," Beckett said. "But your heart stopped."

Magnolia looked at the altar.

It was on fire.

Black fire.

The crown of bone had vanished.

And behind them… something moved.

In the walls.

In the shadows.

A figure emerged.

Celeste.

Eyes wide. Skin pale.

"There's no time," she breathed. "Sterling just activated the seal. He's summoned the first circle."

Rhett's voice was a growl. "Where?"

"Under the city," she said. "In the old catacombs."

Beckett cursed. "He's going to open it fully."

Magnolia stood.

Hands bleeding.

Eyes glowing.

"No," she said. "We're going to stop him."