Lucian POV

I was in the familiar nightmare again, surrounded by nothing but darkness. I stood unmovable, mouth shut, as the scene replayed over and over again to torture me.

But I deserved it. I watched as everyone I cared for vanished-crumbled to dust, died in my arms-because I was too much of a coward to act. Too afraid to reach out. Too late to save anyone.

I don't know what God was punishing me or testing me, but I awaited for the dreamscape to be over.

Then I felt a warmth; soft, and so humanlike overcoming me. It pulled me from the darkness, chased away the shadows, and the...