Only hours ago, Serene had been nothing more than a cold, mummified corpse, a silent relic of the grave. Now, she stood there in vibrant flesh and pulsing blood, her arms wrapped around the very monster who had dismantled her life.
"How?" Mathias rasped, the word escaping his lips like a broken rattle. "How is this possible?"
A sudden tremor racked his frame as a lightning bolt of realization struck. He fixed Serene with a sharp, incredulous stare, struggling to gather the shattered pieces of his composure. "Regardless... Lady Serene, you cannot leave. This place is not—"
"You!" Roland roared. He spun toward Mathias with the feral savagery of a cornered beast, the veins in his neck bulging with a terrifying cocktail of obsession and rage. He lunged forward, intent on tearing the man's throat out, but Serene moved with a fluidity that defied the laws of the living. She swept into his path, interposing her fragile form as an unbreakable shield between the killer and his prey.
