Mae lay motionless on the bed, her skin damp and ghostly pale. Her breaths came shallow and quick, like her body was forgetting how to breathe altogether. Her arms trembled, useless at her sides, while the blood beneath her soaked through the sheets, hot and unrelenting. The room had fallen into a kind of hushed frenzy around her, controlled chaos laced with fear. Lucien knelt beside her, pressing into her abdomen with gloved hands, his jaw clenched, his focus surgical. “You’re okay,” he said, more to himself than to her. “Stay with me.”Kaine had both babies swaddled against his chest, rocking gently on the floor, his back against the wall. He looked overwhelmed but determined, cradling life as death tried to pull one of them under. Ashar moved like a storm across the room, grabbing towels, soaked linens, anything he could get his hands on. Riven hovered behind Lucien, tense, waiting, his hands clenched at his sides. Sethis had vanished moments ago, chasing down whatever supplies mig
The room was heavy with silence as the group regrouped. The tension from the battle still clung to the air, thick with uncertainty. The men had started formulating a plan for their next move, but Mae couldn’t focus on the details. The only thing on her mind was the weight of the moment that had almost been. She had felt it, the pull. Not just the force of her power, but the magnetic, undeniable connection between her and Lucien. The moments they had shared, the almost kiss, the heat that still simmered between them, it was more than just a fleeting desire. It was something darker, something deeper.As the others scattered to prepare, Ashar stepped toward Mae, his expression intense, unreadable. He didn’t speak at first, his gaze flicking to Lucien in the corner, then back to her. His jaw tightened as he closed the distance between them. “Mae,” his voice was low, his tone not quite harsh, but there was something underlying it, something unspoken. “We need to talk." Mae’s heart skipped
The room fell into an eerie silence. Mae’s energy still lingered, heavy in the air, but the Unseen had retreated. The dark shapes flickered, slowly fading. They hadn’t been defeated, but they had hesitated. Mae had never felt that before. The walls still shuddered, but the ground had settled, the tremors no longer shaking the room to its core. The air was thick with the weight of what had just happened.Lucien stood next to Mae. He moved first, gently lifting her to her feet as if she might collapse. Mae blinked, dazed, her knees buckling slightly from the residual energy. She could still feel the aftershocks, but they were different now, not as uncontrollable. Lucien’s voice was soft but firm. “You’re okay. You did well. Just breathe.”But Mae barely heard him. Her mind raced, trying to process the wave of power that had torn through her. She hadn’t known she could do that. She hadn’t known anyone could. “Mae,” Ashar’s voice broke through, rough with confusion. He stood in the corner
The silence that followed was crushing. Smoke curled along the fractured walls. Dust hung heavy in the air. The ground beneath Mae’s feet was scorched and split like the aftermath of a localized earthquake. The room, once chaotic with battle, now stood eerily still. Mae stood in the center of it all, her arms slack at her sides, her breathing shallow but steady. Light still pulsed faintly from her skin, fading slowly like the embers of something that had burned too hot too fast.No one spoke.Ashar stared at her as if he no longer recognized her. Riven’s wings twitched once before falling still. Kaine wiped blood from his mouth and leaned back against the wall with wide eyes. Sethis’s hands hovered near his weapons, but even he didn’t move. They had seen power before. They had never seen that. Lucien was the first to approach. He moved slowly, carefully, as though stepping too quickly might startle her or wake something else. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes were sharp, tra
The house shuddered, groaning under the weight of something ancient, something vast and terrifying. The ground cracked again, louder this time, a jagged line splitting the floor beneath their feet. The air itself seemed to warp, rippling with a force they could neither understand nor contain.In the doorway, the Unseen emerged in full force. A living shadow, dark and unfathomable, its form swirling, twisting, and bending in a way that defied all logic. It was no longer a whisper of something forgotten. It was the embodiment of darkness, of ancient power, of things that should never have been awakened.The first of them took a step into the room, and with it came a chill that seemed to freeze the very air. It moved without a sound, its form rippling, stretching, impossibly vast, until it filled the doorway and spilled into the room. Its presence was suffocating, pulling at the edges of reality itself.The group froze. Mae’s breath caught in her throat, her heart pounding as the room se
The door slammed behind them with a finality that made Mae jump. The once-safe haven of the house now felt like a prison. Every creak of the floorboards, every gust of wind outside, sent a chill racing down her spine. The pulse beneath their feet had faded, but it still hung in the air, vibrating the walls, the floor-everything.Mae turned toward Lucien, her chest rising and falling rapidly, her breath still caught in the fear, the lingering energy that seemed to curl around her heart like a vice. “What was that?” she whispered, her voice barely audible over the thudding of her pulse. She had to know. She could feel it inside her, a tremor in her bones, a pull at her very soul.Lucien’s eyes, usually so unreadable, were narrowed now, his gaze sharp, focused. He didn’t speak right away, his expression darkening, as though the weight of his knowledge was a burden he hadn’t wanted to share. But he knew-Mae had to understand. “The Unseen,” he said, his voice low, the words weighted with c