The night air tasted like smoke and static.
Jace could still hear the faint screams and sirens behind them as they slipped through the alleyway, the chaos on the rooftop painting the sky in black flame. He didn't look back.
The shard pulsed in his hand—hot, alive, and humming with familiar energy. Two shards now, nestled deep inside him like old wounds reopening.
Reya walked beside him, her mask gone, face flushed with adrenaline.
Lena wiped blood from her blade, her expression somewhere between exhilaration and irritation. "So… remind me never to trust your definition of subtle."
Jace smirked. "We got what we came for."
"And we burned half the city's elite cult cultivators while we were at it."
"Bonus."
Reya glanced at him. "Something's still wrong."
Jace stiffened.
The air had shifted—barely noticeable, but there.
A presence.
Smooth. Calculated.
Watching.
He scanned the rooftops.
Nothing.
Then—
"Leaving without saying goodbye?"
The voice drifted from behind.
Soft.
Elegant.
And familiar in a way that made his blood run cold.
They turned.
A woman stood in the alley's mouth, diamond mask glinting beneath the flickering streetlights. Her dress was obsidian silk, slit high enough to reveal a series of tattoos that pulsed faintly beneath her skin—runes of possession, control, and power. Her hair fell in loose waves, silver threads braided into jet-black curls.
Her aura hit him first.
Cold.
Sharp.
A coil of danger wrapped in honey.
Reya's breath hitched.
"Who—"
Lena's grip tightened on her blade.
"Shit."
Jace didn't move.
"Didn't think I'd ever see you again," he said.
The woman tilted her head, amusement dripping from every deliberate movement.
"Likewise," she purred. "Though you wear that new face well, Jace."
She stepped forward, and the world seemed to bend around her.
"Or should I call you by your old name?"
His jaw clenched. "I buried that a long time ago."
"Oh, you tried." Her eyes flickered behind the mask. "But you and I both know you can't bury what you are."
Reya's gaze snapped between them. "Who the hell is she?"
The woman smiled. "An old… acquaintance."
Lena spat to the side. "Don't downplay it. She's a collector."
"Collector?" Reya asked.
Lena nodded, jaw tight. "Of power, secrets, and broken souls. She deals in debts that never quite disappear."
The woman's laughter was light, melodic. "You flatter me, darling."
Jace crossed his arms, keeping his expression neutral even as the shard pulsed harder—like it recognized her too.
"What do you want?"
She studied him for a long moment, her gaze piercing even through the diamond mask.
"I came to see if the stories were true," she said softly. "That the Hollow's chosen had returned—pulling shards out of the earth, tearing open old wounds."
Her head tilted just enough for him to catch the faintest glimmer of familiarity beneath her mask.
Not just recognition.
Memory.
"And now that I see you?" Her lips curled into something sharp. "I'm pleased."
Lena stepped forward, but the woman raised a hand.
"Relax, little phoenix. If I wanted him dead, you'd be ash already."
Reya's voice was low. "You know about the Vault."
"Of course." The woman's gaze slid back to Jace. "But that's not what I want."
"Then what?" Jace asked.
"To remind you who you were." Her voice dipped lower, and something ancient crept beneath her words. "And who you're becoming."
The air tightened.
Reya staggered back, clutching her chest.
Lena cursed under her breath.
Jace's head pounded, visions flashing behind his eyes—Veyra's face, burning ruins, a throne of bone, and a woman at his side, masked in diamonds—
"You—"
She smiled, stepping close enough for him to smell the faint scent of smoke and roses.
"Do you remember now?" she whispered.
The shard inside him burned.
He did.
Not everything.
But enough.
"You were there when I sealed it," he said slowly.
Her eyes glittered behind the mask. "I helped you build the cage, darling."
"And then you betrayed us."
"I chose survival." Her smile faltered just enough to show the weight behind it. "Something you've never been good at."
A cold chill swept through him.
"How are you still alive?"
Her hand brushed his chest—right over where the Hollow pulsed beneath his skin.
"Because I never left," she whispered. "I've just been waiting for you to become what you're meant to be."
"And what's that?" he growled.
She leaned in.
"Whole."
The ground cracked.
A surge of energy rippled outward, knocking Lena and Reya back.
Jace didn't move.
Couldn't.
Her presence wrapped around him like a familiar poison.
"Two shards down," she murmured. "How long until you stop pretending you're still human?"
His pulse thundered.
The Hollow screamed for blood.
And for the first time since waking it, he wasn't sure whose side it wanted him on.
She stepped back, her mask gleaming.
"I'll be waiting," she said. "There's more buried in you than you realize."
"And when you finally remember everything…" Her lips curled into a vicious smile. "You'll come find me."
The air shimmered.
And she was gone.
Reya stumbled to his side, breathing hard.
"Who was that?"
Jace stared at the empty alleyway.
A name sat on his tongue—one that tasted like ash and old promises.
"Someone who knows more about me than I do."
Lena stepped up, wiping blood from her chin.
"And someone who's going to be a problem."
Jace clenched his fists, the shards pulsing under his skin, his memories burning at the edges of his mind.
"We're going to find her."
Reya's gaze hardened. "And then what?"
Jace looked toward the city skyline.
"Then we tear everything down."