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Kellan clears his throat diplomatically. "We'll do another sweep of the perimeter to keep making sure the area stays secure."

Darius stays exactly where he is, his sharp eyes gathering every detail of my expression to understand exactly what I'm feeling. Finally, he nods once. "Take five minutes. Then we discuss strategy."

They head toward the warehouse's rear exit, Kellan already taking out his phone to coordinate with their surveillance team. But Darius pauses at the doorway and glances back with an expression that makes my heart crack open.

"Whatever you saw in there was a total illusion. You know that, right?"

I force a smile; it is a lacerating mask that cuts into my own skin. "Of course."

The lie tastes bitter on my tongue.

Once they're gone, I sink onto an overturned crate and bury my face in my hands. The visions replay behind my closed eyelids—Darius kneeling in his own blood while I stand over him, drunk on stolen power.

The entity's whispered promises echo through my skull like poison, offering me strength enough to keep him forever at the cost of everything I am.

Beyond the immediate stakes, the real takeaway is how instinctively that level of authority called to me. The prospect felt natural as that immense power claimed my veins, a current of liquid lightning. For only an instant, I wanted it. I wanted to be strong enough to protect him from everything, even if it meant becoming the very monster he'd need protection from.

My phone buzzes with a text from Darius: Motion sensors clear. You good?

I type back quickly: Fine. Just need another minute.

But the truth is, I’m completely compromised. Because loving Darius means the entity now has a direct line to the one person who could break me. And I'm starting to realize that the thing chained beneath this city has found an open pathway directly to me. It simply had to locate the one person I’m bound to protect above all others—and it already has.

18

DARIUS

Packing up the warehouse and relocating to the Pine Ridge campsite kept us moving, standard protocol for staying off the grid. Yet despite the new scenery, the tension remains—three days here, and I can count on one hand the number of hours Serenity's actually slept. Sitting by our cabin's window now, she stares into the darkness beyond the porch light like she's waiting for something to wriggle out of the shadows.

"The perimeter's clear," I report while settling my rifle against the wall. "Motion sensors are active; wards are holding."

She stays absorbed in her own world, carefully etching lines against the glass with her fingertip. They are the same symbols she has been meticulously practicing since the warehouse incident.

"Serenity."

I say her name softly to get her attention. Her shoulders tense. "I heard you the first time."

"Then maybe try responding like a functional person instead of a ghost."

That earns me a sharp look, which is an improvement since anger is better than the hollow-eyed stare she's been wearing lately.

"Sorry if my impending psychological breakdown inconveniences your protection schedule."

Crossing the small area separating us, I watch how she flinches when I approach. She's been doing that for days—recoiling whenever I get too close, like my touch burns.

"Talk to me."

"About what? The visions of a platinum blonde witch who keeps whispering my name? The way I can feel something clawing at the inside of my skull every time the moon rises? Or maybe you'd prefer to discuss how I nearly drained a squirrel to death yesterday because it startled me?"

The squirrel incident remains fresh in my memory. I'd found her crouched in the woods, light bleeding from her eyes while a small woodland creature convulsed at her feet. She'd managed to stop herself, but the terror in her expression afterward had been unbearable to witness.

"The entity's getting stronger," I say.

"Obviously. The more power I pull, the closer that thing gets to the surface," she says, standing abruptly and pacing to the cabin's far wall. "But someone else is using that edge to creep in. Every night, the dreams get heavier. And she's always there waiting."

"She?"

"This platinum blonde," Serenity whispers, staring at her hands. "A nameless intruder occupies my mind, turning my thoughts into her own personal playground. Sometimes I can't tell if I'm asleep or awake when I see her."