Page 149 of Savage Crown

RYLAN

The book breathes.

The moment my blood touched its surface, something woke up.

Something ancient.

Something hungry.

The whispers twist through my skull, curling around my thoughts, pressing into the edges of my mind like smoke seeking cracks.

I hear them all at once.

A thousand voices. A thousand warnings. A thousand promises.

But none of them matter.

Seraphina is still lying lifeless on the stone.

And I will not let her go.

I step back into the main cavern, the book heavy in my arms.

The moment I cross the threshold, the air tightens—the cave itself reacting to what I carry.

The treasure glows, pulsing in time with my heartbeat.

Gold and jewels spill from the open vault, but none of it matters.

This place was never about wealth.

It was always about power.

And power has a price.

Seraphina is still where I left her.

She got so pale.

Her blood has soaked into the altar, into the stone, into this cursed place.

The runes carved into the walls glow brighter now, feeding off the sacrifice made.

But she’s not gone.

Not yet.

The whispers told me so.

"You are running out of time."

"The gate is closing."

"Bring her back."

I fall to my knees beside her, placing the book in front of me, my breath ragged.

I press my palm to her chest.

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