Novels by Dolapo

The days that followed carried a fragile, careful happiness, something I hadn't allowed myself to fully believe possible only weeks before, watching Ethan slowly relearn me, watching myself fall for this new, evolving version of him in return, all of it unfolding against the ticking clock of the resealing ceremony still looming three weeks out."The perimeter readings held steady again this morning," Andy reported during our regular gathering, a routine that had become almost comforting despite the danger still underlying everything. "Whatever we're doing, it's holding.""Any word on Darius or the Warden," Ethan asked, his hand finding mine beneath the table with the easy familiarity that had grown between us over the past two weeks."Nothing concrete," Matthias said, frustration evident in his voice. "They've gone completely dark. No movement, no communication, nothing our contacts have been able to track.""That worries me more than open aggression would," my father said, his own ex

The days that followed settled into a strange, fragile rhythm, urgent research into the resealing ceremony filling most of our waking hours, punctuated by small, careful moments between Ethan and me that felt like rebuilding a house one brick at a time, uncertain but steady.We relocated to a secure property Ethan's household maintained closer to the Hollow, easier to monitor the readings from, and easier, I suspected, for Ethan to justify keeping his own people close while still allowing Mira, my father, and me to remain nearby without the awkwardness of us all crowding under one roof."The readings held steady again overnight," Andy reported one morning, nearly a week into our new routine, everyone gathered around the same makeshift command table that had become the center of our days. "Whatever you and Mira did, it's proving more durable than we initially hoped.""That's good news," Ethan said, though the careful relief in his voice carried an edge of wariness that had become famil

We regrouped at the perimeter camp as dawn broke pale and gray over the tree line, exhaustion settling heavy over everyone who'd survived the night's desperate ritual. Andy and Matthias met us with visible relief, helping distribute blankets and hot coffee while Greta, who'd arrived sometime during our absence, moved quickly to tend the wound across my palm properly."The readings have stabilized completely," Andy reported, checking the monitor one final time before finally allowing himself to relax. "Whatever you did in there, it worked.""For now," Mira said, accepting a blanket gratefully, her own exhaustion evident in the slight tremor still visible in her hands. "The seal's reinforced, but it's not permanent. We bought time, not a solution.""Time is enough for tonight," my father said, settling heavily onto a folding chair near the small fire someone had built. "We'll face tomorrow's problems tomorrow."I found myself sitting slightly apart

The hours that followed passed in a blur of frantic research, Mira and my father poring over every fragment of guardian text they could access while Andy and Matthias coordinated the perimeter defenses with Ethan's guards, everyone working against a clock that felt, with every passing minute, more impossibly short.I found myself standing near the tent's entrance sometime past midnight, staring out at the darkened tree line separating us from the Hollow, the distant hum of generators and hushed, urgent voices the only sound accompanying the fear coiled tight in my chest."You should rest," Ethan's voice came from behind me, and I turned to find him standing a careful distance away, his expression still guarded, though something in the late hour seemed to have worn down some of the earlier hardness."I can't," I admitted. "Not with all of this hanging over us."He didn't leave, though he didn't move closer either, simply standing there in the cool night air, his eyes fixed on the same

We reached the perimeter Andy had established just as the sun began sinking low behind the tree line, the small convoy of vehicles pulling to a stop at a checkpoint marked only by a hastily strung line of orange tape and two guards I didn't recognize, their expressions tight with barely controlled tension. "Selene." Andy appeared from behind one of the parked SUVs, relief flickering across his face at the sight of us despite the grim circumstances drawing us all back together. "You shouldn't have come. You're still healing." "I wasn't going to sit in that farmhouse while everyone else faced this," I said, climbing out carefully, my father close behind me, his own wounded arm still bound tight against his chest. "What's the situation." "Worse than an hour ago," Andy said, guiding us toward a small command tent erected near the tree line, monitors and equipment crowded inside on folding tables. "The readings keep spiking. Irregular now, not the steady climb we saw before." Inside th

I stared at the screen, the faint, pulsing glow captured in the photograph seeming to burn itself into my vision despite the safety of the quiet farmhouse kitchen around me. "How do you know," I asked, my voice unsteady. "How do you have eyes on that chamber at all.""I left a tracking device," Mira admitted, "the night we first discovered the location. A precaution, in case things went badly. I never expected to actually need it." She rubbed her eyes, exhaustion evident in every line of her face. "It's been transmitting low-level readings for the past two days. I only just noticed the pattern shifting overnight.""Shifting how," I pressed."Energy readings climbing," Mira said. "Slowly, but steadily. Whatever's happening in that chamber, it's not simply residual magic settling after a failed ritual. It's active. Growing."My father appeared in the kitchen doorway then, his arm still bound in a sling from the wound he'd taken protecting me at the