Chapter 20 · He Didn't Walk Away

The shard's still warm in my palm when the world tilts sideways.

I don't pass out. I wish I did. Instead I'm standing in a stone corridor that smells like rust and something rotting, torches guttering on walls slick with condensation. My boots splash through shallow water. Except they're not my boots—I look down and see bare feet, thin ankles covered in bruises shaped like fingers.

Mom's feet.

I try to scream but nothing comes out. The memory's got me locked in, passenger seat only. Mom's lungs pull air in short gasps. Her ribs ache. Everything aches. She stumbles forward and catches herself on the wall, palm scraping stone.

"Help." Her voice cracks. Mine. Hers. "Someone—please—"

Footsteps echo from somewhere ahead. Heavy. Deliberate. Mom's heart kicks into her throat and she pushes off the wall, tries to run, but her legs won't cooperate. Whoever sealed her spirit root did it recently. The channels are still screaming.

She rounds a corner and there he is.

Gu Hanchuan. Younger. Maybe eighteen. His hair's shorter and he's wearing inner disciple robes, dark blue with silver trim. He's walking fast, head down, hands clenched at his sides like he's trying to hold something in.