The corridors of Nox stretch endlessly ahed, twisting, curling, suffocating.
But I don't stop.
Justin's footsteps echo behind mine, steady, too close, too far.
I don't look back.
The vault's cold is still in my bones, clinging to me like a second skin I can't shake off. The visions are still burning behind my eyes—-images of my mother, the screaming, the silver, the shadows. I can't make sense of them. I can't breathe through them.
So I focus on walking.
It's all I can do.
The pendant is warm against my chest, pulsing faintly, like it's leading me deeper. But the pull feels…..different now. Not like comfort. More like pressure. Like a hand on my back pushing.
I keep moving.
"Sarah."
Justin's voice is quiet, fraying at the edges. "Stop for a second. You can't just—-"
"I can," I cut him off, sharper than I meant to. "I am."
Silence.
It stretches between us, thick and brittle.
I hate it.
But I can't break it either.
He falls into step beside me. Closer now. But I keep my eyes forward, pretending not to notice the way the air feels heavier when he's this close.
"Talk to me," he tries again, softer now. "What did you see in the vault?"
I swallow hard. The lie comes easier than it should. "Nothing that matters."
His breath hitches like I slapped him.
Good.
Or maybe not.
I don't know anymore.
"I'm fine, Justin," I say flatly, forcing the words out like armor. "You don't have to hover."
But the truth it, the bond is still there, thrumming between us—-hotter now, tighter, like it's reacting to everything I won't say out loud. Like it knows I'm lying. Like it's trying to pull me back to him, even as I shove him further away.
He says nothing. But I feel his stare.
I keep walking.
I tell myself I'm in control.
That I'm not unravelling.
That I don't need him.
But every step feels heavier.
And the silence between us feels like it's swallowing me whole.
********
The chamber Freyr offers us is nothing like the rest of Nox.
It's cleaner. Too clean.
The walls are smooth, polished stone that reflects faint, ghostly light from nowhere. No doors. Not windows. No escape.
A cage dressed up as shelter.
Justin stands near the entrance, scanning the room like it might bite him. I can feel the tension rolling off of him, sharp and restless, but I ignore it. I cross to the furthest corner, sinking down onto the too-soft cushions that feel like they belong to someone else's life.
The pendant lies heavy around my neck, still pulsing faintly, but I press it down, hiding it under my clothes like it might suffocate me if I don't.
Justin hasn't sat down.
He paces. Back and forth. Like he's the one being haunted.
"Sarah…." He finally breaks the silence, his voice tight, retrained. "You need to rest. You're—"
"I'm fine."
The words come out flat, automatic.
He stops pacing, but the weight of him doesn't lessen. It fills the room. Fills me.
I curl tighter into myself, pretending the ache in my chest isn't spreading.
Pretending I'm not still shaking.
Pretending the visions from the vault aren't crawling under my skin.
I close my eyes, but sleep doesn't come easy. When it does, it's fractured.
Blurry images.
A woman's voice whispering my name.
A box.
Shadows slipping through cracks.
Don't trust him.
I wake choking on my breath, heart pounding against my ribs like it wants out. Justin's already watching me. His face is tight, worried—-but I turn away from him, pulling the blanket higher, pretending I didn't see the crack in his mask.
I can't let him see me like this.
I can't let him hold me back.
You walk this path alone, Freyr's voice echoes in my skull, soft, patient, inevitable.
I squeeze my eyes shut tighter, the bond pulling at me, twisting, making it harder to breathe the longer I fight it.
But I fight it anyway.
Because I have to.
**********
The stillness breaks when Freyr returns.
The door—-if it ever existed—-appears like a slit of darkness, and he steps through, as composed and unhurried as always, like he's been waiting just outside the entire time.
Maybe he has.
Justin straightens immediately, blocking the space between Freyr and me, his hand brushing the place where he keeps his blade. But Freyr only smiles, as if none of it matters.
Because to him, it doesn't.
"Sleep well?" Freyr asks softly, but his gaze lands only on me.
I don't answer.
He doesn't expect me to.
"You've done well, Sarah," he continues, tone dripping with that false warmth he uses like a weapon. "You opened the first door. You survived the first truth."
Justin's jaw tightens. "What do you want, Freyr?"
Freyr ignores him, holding out something thin and old between two elegant fingers. A map. Or what's left of one. Faded symbols, curling ink, nothing that makes sense to my tired eyes.
"This is your next step," he says, still watching only me. "Few have been this far into Nox's heart. Fewer have still been given the chance to see what lies beneath its skin. There is a chamber beyond the Hollow Spires. A place where your mother once stood."
That catches in my chest. I try not to show it, but I know Justin sees the flicker.
"Sarah no," Justin says, stepping toward me now, his voice low, sharp, almost pleading. "He's playing you. You saw what the vault did—-this is the same game. He's feeding you scraps, pushing you further in so he can use you."
"I can handle it," I snap, sharper than I mean to, but the words tumble out before I can stop them. "You think I'm weak? That I can't make decisions without you telling me how to breathe?"
"That's not what I—-"
"I'm going," I cut him off. My voice is flat. Cold. Not because I want it to be. But because it's the only way to keep from breaking.
Justin stares at me like he doesn't recognize the person standing in front of him.
Maybe I don't either.
Freyr folds the map neatly, offering it to me with a bow that feels more like a mockery.
I take it. My hand doesn't shake.
"This is your choice," Freyr says softly, his voice curling close to my ear like a promise—-or a noose. "But the path is yours alone."
Justin steps forward again, but I shake my head before he can speak. "You don't have to come."
His expression fractures, just for a second.
"I do," he says, but his voice is hoarse, broken in a way that makes my throat ache.
I don't reply.
I turn, following the path Freyr gave me, deeper into the hollow dark.
Justin follows.
But a step behind now.
And I don't look back.
********
Justin's POV
She walks ahead of me now.
Not beside.
Not close enough to reach.
A step ahead. Always just out of reach.
The bond pulls tighter the further she goes, thrumming in my chest like a wound that won't close. But she doesn't look back. Not once.
She used to.
Before Nox.
Before Freyr.
Before the vault.
Now…..she's walking into the dark like she belongs to it.
I follow. Of course I do.
Even though I know I'm already too late to stop her from crossing whatever line she thinks she has to cross.
Freyr lingers behind us, his smile quiet, satisfied curve, like this is all going exactly the way he planned.
"Because it is."
I clench my fists, forcing myself to keep walking, to keep breathing, to keep pretending I still have a place at her side.
But the truth sinks deeper with every step.
I'm losing her.
And the worst part?
I don't know if I'll ever get her back.