As Lucien's voice continued to come from the rusted device, the air inside the room grew even heavier. The Ashford seals on the stone walls stood like witnesses from a court that had stayed silent for years. Elara could feel the mark on her wrist burning. This burn was no longer only the call of the Root Facility. It was as if that facility was answering every word spoken in this room.
"Do not take the vessel to the Root Facility," the recording had said. "Because the thing waking inside Darian's body is not Darian."
Kael did not move at all. But Elara felt something inside him break sharply. Darian's name had always been an open wound for Kael. Now, instead of hope, a darker possibility had been placed inside that wound. Darian's body might be alive. But if the thing waking inside it was not Darian, then this was not hope. It was something worse than torture.
Rowan's face was white. "Is this recording old?"
