Riona froze.
The thing wearing her brother's face smiled wider, teeth too sharp. Florian's familiar features twisted with malice, his eyes hollow pits lit by the flickering flame. The demon's presence radiated like heat from a forge—corrupting, warping, wrong.
Puck stepped in front of her instinctively, torch raised, his posture ready to spring.
"Florian," Riona said, swallowing hard.
She had imagined this moment a thousand times—reuniting with her brother. But never like this.
Before she agreed to Lady Maris's plan… before she came to this cursed place… she had told herself she could do it. She would kill the demon and save Florian. She knew what it was capable of—that it could steal her brother's voice, wear his face like a mask, speak in his tone, even laugh the way he used to.
But knowing it, and seeing it…
Seeing it was different.
"That's not Florian," Puck growled, stepping protectively beside her, his eyes locked on the twisted mockery standing in the gloom.
