The silence that followed future Nova's appearance stretched taut as a bowstring, broken only by the rhythmic pulsing of the fractured mirror behind Evangeline. Samantha's mind reeled, trying to process the impossible sight of her daughter—her infant daughter—standing before them as a young woman with power that made the very air shimmer around her like heat waves.
Marcus's voice cut through her shock, low and urgent. "I'll explain later how she's here," he said, his eyes never leaving Nyx'ara, who stood frozen in predatory stillness. "First, we need to leave this place. But we can't go directly to the Obsidian Sanctum—not with them tracking us."
"What about Nyx'ara?" Samantha asked, her voice barely above a whisper. The female Soul Harvester remained motionless, but there was something in her pearl-and-blood smile that suggested this pause was temporary, a coiled snake preparing to strike.
