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The creature roars. Not like an animal. Like something furious that it can no longer control the story.

I bare my teeth.

"You don't get him."

The entity surges forward. I meet it halfway.

"You don't get her."

Another impact. The Hollow shakes.

"And you don't get any of us."

The darkness explodes around us. But I hold. I hold because behind me is everything I lost. Everything I never knew I had. Everything I refuse to lose again. And as the entity fights harder…

I realize something. It's afraid. Not of me. Not of my wolf. Of what happens if we succeed. Because someone isn't running from it. Someone came back. And we're here to end it.

25

CARYS

OCTOBER 26 ~ 5 DAYS UNTIL HALLOWEEN

The first thing I learn about fighting a monster is that monsters lie. Not with words. With instincts. They make you believe the thing you feel most strongly must be the truth.

Fear feels like truth. Panic feels like truth. The desperate need to run feels like truth. But feelings can be manipulated. Patterns cannot. And I have spent my entire adult life learning patterns.

The entity is not chaos. It only wants us to believe it is. From where I stand behind Rhett, I watch the battle unfold. Not like someone watching a fight. Like someone studying data. Every movement. Every reaction. Every shift in behavior. The creature attacks. Rhett blocks. It retreats.

Rhett advances. It destabilizes. Again. Again. Again.

There. The weakness. I see it. The entity isn't strongest when it attacks. It's strongest when it has our attention. When we fear it. When we acknowledge it. Recognition. That has always been the key. Everly said it. The entity feeds on proximity and recognition.

At the time, I thought she meant awareness. I was wrong. It doesn't need us to see it. It needs us to accept it. To believe it has power over us. And for 15 years…

It has had one person who carried the strongest connection. Me.

My stomach drops. No. Not me. The choice I made. The decision I don't remember making. The moment that changed everything.

Sayer. The entity isn't connected to him because he is weak. It's connected to him because I was the doorway. The realization hits so hard I almost lose my footing.

"Carys!"

Rhett's voice cuts through the chaos. I look up. The entity has knocked him backward. He catches himself before falling completely, but the impact sends roots and dirt exploding around him.

I move forward instinctively. Then stop. Think. Don't react. That's what it wants. The entity turns toward Sayer. The pull begins. I feel it before I see it. Sayer stiffens beside me. His face goes pale.

"It's calling."

I grab his arm.

"Don't listen."

"It's louder."

"I know."

My voice stays steady. Because his fear will follow mine.