The shadow surged upward like a tidal wave of night. Its edges hissed and spat electric blue sparks that sliced through the air with a scent of scorched metal.Jacob yanked Victoria back just as a whip of cobalt lightning lashed the ground where they’d stood. The soil crystallized into black glass.Continuum’s voice boomed, brittle with strain. “Fragment of the Root, unbound. Heir, the gate will not endure long.”The Root’s fragment loomed, a jagged silhouette of living darkness. Twin eyes of burning cobalt locked on Jacob. “You waver. You wonder. That is enough.”Marcus stepped forward, transfixed. “Incredible. It’s beautiful.”“Beautiful?” Victoria snapped, blood streaking her sleeve. “It’s trying to kill us!”Another whip of lightning cracked across the plain, missing Marcus by inches. He barely flinched, grin widening.Jacob raised his voice over the storm. “Why me? Why keep calling me heir?”The Root’s reply rumbled through his bones. “Because you dream beyond the cage. You will