“The stage looks bigger from out there,” Marcus said, nodding toward the empty mic. “But it’s just a wooden floor. Everyone who stands on it has been terrified.”

Kai nodded, not looking up.

Finally, Kai whispered, “I don’t know what I am yet. Not completely.”

The rain stopped. The Raven’s Wing closed its doors. But a new light had been lit, passed from one generation to the next, flickering but stubbornly, beautifully alive.