The room did not look the same.
The walls seemed farther away. The shadows in the corners were thicker. The air felt heavy, like water pressing on the skin.
Near the far side of the chamber stood a man in royal robes.
Rein.
His crown rested loosely on his head. His face still looked like him, but his eyes were filled with deathly chillness.
Thin black veins ran beneath his skin, and something shifted in his throat, like there was another heartbeat inside him.
Next to him, the air split open without a sound.
A tall abyssal creature or human with an obscure figure stepped through. Its body was too thin, and its limbs were too long. Its joints bent the wrong way. Its face had no eyes or mouth, only a narrow slit that slowly opened and closed.
Kael didn't know if it can be called human or not.
Martina's chest felt tight. "They were not in the tunnel at all…"
Kael exhaled through his nose. "The room itself is the trap."
