The Midnight Key

The fire had long since burned out, leaving only smoldering embers. But the chill in the air wasn't from the cold.

It was from her.

Rene could feel it.

Rena wasn't just sleeping anymore.

She was dreaming.

And for the first time, she was whispering.

Soft. Faint.

But clear enough for Rene to hear.

"I... remember."

Rene froze.

Nyra turned sharply. "What did she just say?"

Adrian and Adriel stood in an instant, their silver eyes darkening.

Lucien?

He was no longer smiling.

Rene swallowed, her heart pounding. "Rena?"

The child shifted slightly, her tiny fingers curling against Rene's cloak. Her silver eyes fluttered open—

And for the briefest moment, they weren't silver anymore.

They were black.

Deep, endless black, like the void itself.

And then—

"They locked me away."

The room went deathly silent.

Rene couldn't breathe.

Lucien exhaled slowly. "Well. That's new."

Adriel's voice was barely above a whisper. "Who locked you away?"

Rena's gaze shifted toward him.

Not like a child.

Not like an infant barely two years old.

Like something ancient.

Something that had seen.

Something that knew.

"The ones who feared me."

A flicker of silver light pulsed from her tiny hands. The pendant around Rene's neck burned with energy, reacting violently to the presence inside the child.

Nyra took a slow step back, fingers tightening around her blade. "She's not just a key."

Lucien nodded. "No. She's a door."

A sickening realization crept into Rene's mind.

The pendant. The hunters. The whisper in the flames.

The soul inside Rena…

Was never meant to return.

But it had.

And now, they had to find Selene before the ones who exiled it did.

Because if Rena was waking up—

Then so were they.

To Be Continued…

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