Samuel pov

The golden dagger.

She was fusing with it.

For the first time, my mind didn’t keep up. It didn’t calculate, didn’t predict, didn’t try to make sense of what I was seeing. It just… stopped.

Empty.

Just like that.

Like it had done once before, years ago, when my parents stood in front of me trying to teach me what emotions were supposed to look like. Back then it had been blankness, a hollow absence where reactions were meant to be.

But this time was different.

This time, something forced its way through that emptiness.

My chest tightened.

My pulse kicked violently against my ribs.

My body locked...