Delilah's 's Pov

I didn't breathe for a full heartbeat.

Did I hear that right?

Celia. Standing there. Breathing. Real.

My lips parted before I could stop myself. "What?" My voice came out thin, shaky, almost breaking in the middle. "What do you mean? I thought your mate was dead."

Celia turned toward me slowly, her eyes flicking like liquid silver beneath the light. "I'm not dead," she said simply, like she hadn't just shattered every bone in my chest with those three words.

My throat tightened. I looked at Malric. Waiting. Hoping he would say something, anything, to make sense of this madness.

But he didn't.

He just stood...