At exactly 6:17 a.m., the city of Aurith rang a bell that nobody could hear.
It wasn’t a church bell, nor a clock tower. It was something deeper — a hum that vibrated beneath pavement, through steel beams, under skin. It passed through people like breath. Most of them shifted slightly in their sleep and rolled over.
Except for Elias Vane.
Elias opened his eyes before the alarm.
He always did.
