Something shattered inside Riona.
The flicker of warmth that once lived in her eyes was extinguished in an instant. What replaced it was emptiness—hollow, dead, and cold. But beneath that dead calm, something darker churned. A smoldering fury that no longer had a leash.
Her gaze swept the room like a blade.
Then, without warning, a violent surge of magic erupted from her body.
The wall opposite Kieran's bed exploded in a deafening roar, stone and smoke crashing outward as if reality itself was tearing at the seams. The others flinched, shielding themselves from the blast—but she stood still, her breath ragged, her fingers trembling with rage that burned deeper than fire.
Her voice came low, cold, and venom-laced.
"If this is the price I have to pay," she growled, "then I'll gladly tear the world apart."
Her power surged again, shadows writhing at her feet, responding to her wrath like a beast finally set loose.
"They have no right to keep breathing if he ends up dying."
