The air bent around her.
At first, it was nothing more than a shift in warmth, like the way a chamber sometimes changed when a door had been left open somewhere far away. Then the light wavered, and the rain outside that had almost subsided seemed to darken imperceptibly.
Ilaria slowed her breath, bracing herself for the storm to come. She could feel the hairs along her arms rise.
"Ilaria..."
Her pulse leapt. The sound was the same as before, so very wrong. Maybe because she finally allowed it to speak to her, the voice had weight this time, as if it had been waiting for her to answer the call.
"Daughter of Light..." the voice hissed, softer now, the syllables curling like smoke. "You should not be here."
Her throat tightened. She could not move from where she still knelt, could not even answer. And perhaps because there was no longer a barrier between them, the voice did not wait for her permission.
