Wisps of shadows crept around the glowing barrier, twining like black serpents. They constricted, tighter and tighter, until the hum of the barrier wavered.
The orange glow flickered, pulsed once like a failing heartbeat, and then shattered, splintering apart with a sound like glass cracking. The shards of light dissolved into the air, leaving nothing but the corpse lying silently before us.
And then the smell hit me.
It wasn't the foul stench of something decomposing. No, this was… different. It wasn't human at all. The air carried the damp weight of earth, of soil freshly turned. And beneath it, faint but lingering, was something floral. A fragrance soft and refreshing, like petals caught in the wind. The kind of flowers you only noticed when you were close enough to brush against them.
"Alysia," Rion murmured. "He smelled a lot like Alysia."
The name sparked in my memory. My lips parted.
