Chapter 8 · Hollowborn - Chapter 8: Two Voices in the Dark

I spin around so fast I nearly lose my balance on the edge of the bell platform. The voice is coming from the stairs below—Layla's voice, the same one that's been whispering through my dreams for days. But this time it's not in my head.

"Don't listen to him, Ivy." The words echo up through the dark shaft. "He's not telling you everything."

Cole's memory-shadow flickers beside me, and for the first time since he appeared, I see something like fear cross his face. "She's awake," he says quietly. "The seal must have cracked when you opened the locket."

"What seal?" I grab his arm—or try to. My fingers pass through cold air and the faint outline of sleeve fabric. "Cole, what the hell is going on?"

Footsteps on the stairs. Slow, deliberate. Getting closer.

"The contract your mother made," Cole says, his voice urgent now. "It wasn't just to hide you from the guild. She bound part of herself to the locket, a backup in case—" He stops. Looks at me with those hollow eyes. "In case I failed to protect you."

The footsteps stop. I hold my breath.

"He failed, Ivy.