C221 FIRST TIME SHE REFUSED TO BE SAVED

Aria sensed it before it happened.

Not sound.

Not smell.

Something colder.

She woke in darkness, breath shallow, heart already racing as if her body had understood the danger long before her mind caught up. The chamber was still—too still. Even the faint hum of the Blood Court at night, the distant echo of guards’ boots and quiet voices, was gone.

Silence pressed in on her ears