"I feel it," Ashwin muttered, already pushing off the sofa, his usual laziness stripped in an instant. His boots hit the floor, stance widening as if bracing for impact. "Ether's rattling."
The hum deepened, a low thrum threading through the glass of the windows, rattling the pen Elias had left on the desk until it rolled toward the edge. His pulse picked up with it, each beat syncing too neatly with the vibration in the air.
Elias shoved to his feet, the blanket falling in a heap behind him. "What is that?" His voice came sharper than he intended, forced through a chest that already felt too tight.
Ashwin's eyes narrowed, his gaze turned outward as though he could pierce the horizon through the walls. "That," he said, voice clipped, "is someone trying to ascend."
"Shouldn't we do something about it?" Elias asked, watching the pulsating rhythm of the windows. He was a recessive; he shouldn't be able to feel it. "What if it's Theobald?"
