Claire’s POV

The darkness was not empty.

I could not see, move or find the edges of my own body, but someone was holding a door open inside it.

Damian remained on the other side of our bond, exhausted and trembling from the effort of keeping it open. Closing the connection would have allowed him to rest, yet he held it wide with the same determination he had shown in the courtyard.

Behind him, small and stubborn, a heartbeat continued beating.

I recognized that presence. I had felt it beneath the palace when my unborn child refused to allow Ivy’s ritual to take him from me.

No visions waited inside...