#Chapter 182: The False Mother

Amelia Vasha waited for me in a chamber carved entirely from obsidian, lit only by the soft blue glow of floating glyphs that rotated above the floor in a slow, deliberate circle. The space wasn’t still; it pulsed with a coiled, almost living stillness, as if it were holding its breath and watching me breathe. It smelled like ash and old parchment, like the inside of a sealed tomb that hadn’t been opened in centuries. I wasn’t sure if I had walked here or if I had been pulled, but I knew I hadn’t come by choice. My thoughts were splintered and scattered, like shards of glass suspended in fog. Every second seemed to slip sideways. I remembered arriving, but I couldn’t say from where. I remembered screaming, but I didn’t know when or why. She didn’t rise. She just turned her head slightly, studying me with a gaze that made my skin tighten and crawl. There was nothing soft or nurturing in it. She looked nothing like Serena, but the posture was so familiar it made my chest ache. Th