Emma grabbed her mother's outstretched hand just as the bubble prison exploded completely.
They fell through spinning darkness, tumbling past floating chunks of broken reality. Emma's resurrection power flared automatically, wrapping them all in silver light as they crashed into something solid.
"Everyone okay?" Marcus groaned, picking himself up from what looked like a floor made of swirling galaxies.
"Mom!" Emma threw herself at the woman she thought had been dead for years. "I can't believe you're really here!"
But when she hugged her mother, something felt wrong. The woman was cold as ice, and Emma couldn't feel a heartbeat.
"Emma, sweetheart," her mother said softly. "I need to tell you something important."
"What is it?"
"I'm not actually alive."
Emma jerked back like she'd been slapped. "What do you mean?"
"The Necro-Sovereign didn't lie exactly. I never died in the traditional way. But I'm not alive either. I'm something in between."
