"Our paths are different," he said. "We're heading east—toward the border. Toward Asmodeus's territory. Not Solaria."
Elise didn't flinch. If anything, her gray eyes grew even more focused.
"I know," she replied softly. "I knew the moment you touched me last night."
She lifted her hand—the one he had held when the curse flared—and turned it palm-up as though showing him something invisible.
"When the curse attacked again… and you suppressed it… I felt it. Something inside you is wounded. Deeply. A piece of your soul is missing—or rather, it's being preserved somewhere else, fragile and fading. I've told you already: I'm sensitive. The curse forces me to be."
Seraphina shifted uneasily, but Elise continued without pause.
"You three are not human. Not fully. Entering Solaria in your current state would be suicide. The border wards, the inquisitors, the royal mages—they would sense the anomaly in moments. You'd be hunted before you crossed the first checkpoint."
