Chapter 152

Maren

The water closes over my head without violence.

No shock.

No pain.

Just silence.

For one impossible heartbeat, I think Kaelen was wrong. That this isn’t the end or the beginning—just a deep, quiet nothing where fear finally lets go.

Then the lake takes me.

Down.

Not dragging. Not pulling.

Receiving.

Cold wraps around my skin like a second body, seeping into my lungs, my bones, my thoughts. I