"Gone."
The word dropped like a guillotine.
James growled, every inch of him bristling with fury.
"You bastard—!"
Before he could move—
Crow's hand twitched.
SHHHK!
Shadows burst from beneath James' feet like grasping hands.
They clawed up his legs in an instant, clinging to his skin with wicked tendrils.
He yelled, electricity sparking chaotically from his body as he staggered back.
"James!!" Lily shouted.
Without hesitation, she hurled a jagged shard of ice toward the dark mass.
Sara's vines lashed out, wrapping around James and pulling him free just before the shadows could swallow him whole.
But Crow…
Crow was laughing now.
A low, broken laugh. Not loud. Not theatrical. Just… wrong.
Like someone remembering a joke at a funeral.
"I watched them die."
"I watched the light in their eyes fade."
His steps echoed—slow, deliberate.
The creatures parted before him like loyal beasts bowing to their master.
