Novels by Cleopatra

Lucas POVI stood there for a few seconds longer, still holding Emily in my arms, my eyes fixed on the spot where the shadow had been. Nothing remained. No mark, no trace, nothing to show that something unnatural had just existed there. But I knew better than to trust what I could see. The absence of something dangerous did not mean it was gone. Sometimes it only meant it had moved.Emily’s weight shifted slightly against me, and I looked down at her. Her eyes were still open, but they were heavy now, her strength drained from whatever she had just done. Her breathing was slow, uneven, like her body was trying to catch up with what had just happened.“We need to get you back,” I said quietly.She nodded faintly, but she didn’t speak.I did not wait any longer. I lifted her properly into my arms and turned back down the corridor. The guards moved out of the way immediately, their eyes filled with questions they did not dare ask. I ignored them. Right now, nothing mattered more than get

Clarisse POVI felt it even before anyone came to tell me anything. I felt it deep inside me like a sharp pull that refused to be ignored. It was not pain, not exactly, but it was close enough to make me sit up from where I had been lying. My chest tightened as something heavy pressed against my senses, something familiar yet wrong at the same time. I had felt it once before, long ago, in whispers and fragments, in the stories I was never meant to fully understand. And now it was here again.“They’re moving,” I whispered to myself.My fingers curled slightly against the bed as I tried to focus on the feeling. It was faint, but not gone. Something had just happened, something strong enough to ripple through whatever connection existed between them. The failed ones. The empty ones. The ones that should never have been allowed to exist in the first place.Emily.My jaw tightened at the thought of her name.Of course it was her.Everything always came back to her now.I pushed myself up s

Lucas POV“Emily,” I said softly, brushing my hand against her cheek.Her eyes fluttered, but she did not fully respond.“I’m here,” I added, my voice firmer now, like I needed her to hear it.She blinked slowly, trying to focus.“I didn’t lose anything,” she whispered again.“I know,” I said.But I was not fully convinced.Not because I doubted her.But because I did not understand enough yet to be sure.And right now, not understanding felt like the most dangerous thing in the world.I lifted her carefully into my arms and turned toward the guards who were still standing far at the end of the corridor, watching everything like they had just witnessed something they would never be able to explain.“Clear this area,” I ordered.They snapped back to attention immediately.“Yes, sir.”“And no one comes near this corridor without my permission.”“Yes, sir.”I did not wait for anything else. I carried Emily back toward our room, my steps steady but fast. My mind was already moving ahead,

Lucas POVThe silence after it disappeared did not feel like victory.I stood there for a few seconds, still holding Emily in my arms, my eyes fixed on the exact spot where the shadow had been just moments ago. The corridor looked normal again. Too normal. The cracks in the walls had stopped spreading, the air felt lighter, and the cold presence that had filled the space was gone. But deep inside me, something refused to settle. This was not over. Not even close.Emily’s weight shifted slightly against me, and I looked down at her. Her eyes were still open, but she looked drained, like everything inside her had been pulled thin.“You’re okay,” I said quietly, though I was not fully sure myself.She swallowed and nodded faintly. “It’s gone… but it didn’t feel like the end.”My jaw tightened. “I know.”She leaned her head lightly against my chest, her breathing uneven. I adjusted my grip and lifted her properly, carrying her without another word. She did not protest. That alone told me

Lucas POVFor a moment, I could not move.My body was ready to react, ready to pull her away, ready to do something—anything—but something held me in place. It was not fear. It was something else. Something deeper. The way Emily stood there, completely still, her hand pressed against that dark shape, it did not look like she was being attacked. It looked like she was… connected to it.And that thought terrified me more than anything else.“Emily,” I called again, my voice lower this time, controlled, but tense.She did not answer.The corridor trembled again, harder this time. The walls groaned as thin cracks spread across them like veins. The air felt thick, almost hard to breathe, like something was pressing against my chest. The guards from the other end of the hallway started shouting, but their voices sounded distant, like they were far away even though they were not.My eyes never left her.Her back was straight.Her hand was still raised.And that thing—That shadow—It was no

Lucas POVI stood there for a long time, just watching her sleep. The room was quiet, too quiet, and it made every thought in my head sound louder than it should. Emily’s breathing was steady, soft, almost comforting, but it did nothing to calm the storm building inside me. Clarisse’s words kept repeating in my mind, over and over again, like something I could not escape from. They want what they lost. That line alone was enough to keep sleep far away from me. Because if that was true, then this was no longer just a matter of protecting Emily from danger. It meant she was the center of something much darker, something that had already begun long before we even knew it existed.I ran a hand slowly over my face and exhaled, forcing myself to think clearly. Panic would not help. Fear would not help. I needed control. I had always relied on control, on knowing the next step before anyone else even realized there was a problem. But now… this situation was slipping into something I could no