One moment I was wrapped in Raven—his warmth, his weight, the lingering pulse of what we’d just done still echoing through every inch of my body—and the next, I was somewhere else.
Not a dream.
Not exactly.
Darkness surrounded me, but it wasn’t empty.
It was full.
Alive.
Breathing.
Watching.
The same darkness I had spent my entire life avoiding.
But this—this wasn’t the same.
This darkness didn’t whisper at the edges of my mind.
It didn’t beg.
It didn’t claw.
It waited.
For me.
I stood barefoot on what felt like stone, though I couldn’t see it.
My body felt different—lighter and heavier all at once, like I was both inside myself and slightly outside of it.
“Okay,” I whispered into the void. “That’s new.”
My voice echoed.
Not outward.
Inward.
And something answered.
Not words.
A feeling.
Recognition.
Like a door opening.
Suddenly—they were there.
Not one.
Not two.
Dozens.
