LILY POV
"No!" I screamed as Hope jumped into the dimensional crack.
My daughter vanished into the swirling darkness, and something inside me broke apart. The maternal link that connected us stretched thin but didn't snap. Hope was still alive, somewhere in that horrible place between worlds.
Without thinking, I dove after her.
"Lily!" Caleb shouted behind me, but I was already falling through the crack.
The space between dimensions felt like drowning in ice-cold honey. Everything moved slowly, and I could barely breathe. But I could feel Hope somewhere ahead of me, her tiny beating calling to mine.
I found her floating in a bubble of golden light, unconscious but breathing. Shadow-Hope circled around us like a shark, her evil energy trying to break through Hope's protective barrier.
"You can't save her," Shadow-Hope hissed. "She chose to sacrifice herself. That choice is binding."
