The wind had changed, from the brisk chill of evening to a heavy and oppressive heat. And although the forest was still, it did not go unheard, the sound that lingered with Isolde's sacrifice. In the middle of the clearing, Serena stood, shaking hands gripping the pendant she had once owned. A sad remnant of her. The last remnant of a man who had sacrificed everything to save her.
Lucian hung close to her but didn't say anything. He didn't need to. The silence that unfurled between them was deafening, full of the things unsaid, the words they weren't brave enough to utter. It felt like the world had turned upside down, and Serena was reaching for a handhold. She had lost Isolde. She lost a part of herself.
