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
Lucien stepped from out of the shadows, his figure emerging silently, like something born of the darkness itself. The room was still dark, the soft, steady breathing of Ashar and Riven filling the air, their forms sprawled across the bed. Mae-nestled between them, remained unaware, her chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm, untouched by the disturbance that was now growing in intensity. Not for long. The sound-a scraping, low and unnatural-brought a shiver down his spine. It was a noise that didn’t belong, an ancient echo from deep within the earth. The very walls of the room seemed to hum with it, vibrating with a force that was far too old to be ignored.Lucien took another step, his body moving in a fluid, controlled motion, despite the tightness that gripped his chest. The pulse of the earth beneath him trembled in his veins. This was no simple quake, no fleeting disturbance. This was something far worse. He had heard this before. In fragments of whispers. In dreams that felt
Lucien’s thoughtsI’ve been waiting for this moment, knowing it was coming. It always has been. The pulse. The crack in time that echoes through the marrow of my bones, through the space between seconds. She has always been there, just out of sight, just beyond reach. But never fully seen. I never saw her face—only the echo of her presence, the broken threads of the future that revolved around her.I never wanted to understand why, but now I do. I see her now, between them, her small form tucked between Ashar and Riven. I’ve watched her before. Not in this form. Not like this. But it’s her. I knew it from the second I laid eyes on her at the auction, from the second she stood there, trapped, her collar a heavy chain that didn’t belong on her. Her aura, that hum, that unbearable pulse—it was her.The girl I had always seen. The girl who shattered everything she touched. The one who would change everything. She’s more than just here. She’s the answer. The fracture. I don’t sleep. I neve