Ava
The storm had passed, but the silence it left behind was worse. The sea lay still as glass, and the air felt heavy, as though the world itself were holding its breath. People in Havenscove spoke in whispers now. Some said the light they had seen was divine. Others called it a curse. I only knew it had changed something in me.
I stood outside the shop, Oliver's small hand wrapped in mine. The fog rolled in low, thick and pale, curling around our feet like smoke. The boy hummed softly under his breath, the same strange tune he had started after the Veil trembled.
"What are you humming?" I asked quietly.
He didn't look at me. "He's singing again."
My stomach turned cold. "Who?"
"The man from the sea."
"Elijah?" I whispered.
Oliver nodded, his eyes distant. "He says he is almost here."
Before I could speak again, a shiver moved through the air. The light dimmed though the sun had not yet set. Every sound in town seemed to fade at once. I turned toward the square and froze.
A man walked through the mist.
He was tall, his coat dark, his steps slow and deliberate. His hair caught what little light remained, a dark gold that gleamed like a dying ember. The air bent around him, warping the fog into shapes that fled from his path. The closer he came, the colder it grew.
The townsfolk parted without knowing why. They did not look at him, only stepped aside, as if their bodies understood what their minds could not. The bell above my door gave a single, sharp chime though no one had touched it.
He stopped in front of the shop.
I could not move. My heart pounded hard enough to hurt. The man lifted his head, and I saw his eyes, molten gold, too bright, too deep. For a heartbeat, I thought it was Casimir. But Casimir's eyes burned with warmth and life. These burned with memory.
"You have something that belongs to me," he said.
The sound of his voice was the same one from my dreams. It filled the space around us like smoke, soft and patient, terrifying in its calm. My mark blazed beneath my skin. The pain was sharp, immediate. I took a step back, pulling Oliver behind me.
His gaze flicked to the boy. "And so does the child."
I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came.
The door behind me flew open. Casimir stepped out, his sword drawn, the air around him charged and violent. The sight of the stranger's face made him still. His eyes widened in disbelief, then hardened to fury.
"Elijah."
The man smiled faintly. "You wear my face, little wolf. But you are only an echo."
Casimir moved without thought. The sword flashed, catching the light of the setting sun. Elijah did not step aside. The blade passed through him as if through smoke. The air rippled, and Casimir staggered back, his breath rough.
"You should not fight your own reflection," Elijah said.
"Stay away from her," Casimir hissed.
Elijah turned his head toward me, and when his eyes met mine, the world tilted. My knees went weak. The sound of the sea filled my head, the pulse of the Veil beating in my ears. He raised a hand, and the air trembled. I felt him reach for the mark beneath my skin. Heat spread through my chest, then pain.
"Do you know what you are, Avaryn Morgan?" he asked softly. "You are the end of my story and the beginning of his."
I gasped, clutching my chest. Casimir lunged again, but Elijah's form dissolved into mist. The air split with a crack of thunder that came from nowhere. The ground beneath us shuddered. People screamed and fled.
Elijah's voice followed the wind. "When the sun bleeds over the water, choose the world you will burn for."
Then he was gone.
The silence that followed was deafening. The air still shimmered faintly where he had stood. I turned to Casimir. His face was pale, his eyes wild.
"He crossed the Veil," he said. "He is here."
Nicholas appeared moments later, his coat soaked from the sea mist. "I saw the light from the cliffs. Tell me it was not what I think it was."
Casimir looked at him, his jaw tight. "It was him."
Nicholas went still. "Then the end has already begun."
---
Casimir
Night fell quickly, swallowing the last traces of light. I stood on the porch of the apothecary, sword in hand, listening to the silence. Every instinct screamed that he was still near. The Veil's pulse beat in the air, faint but steady, like a heartbeat too far away to reach.
Inside, I could hear Ava's voice murmuring softly to Oliver, soothing him. Her tone calmed something in me even as the wolf inside bristled, restless. The scent of her, the herbs, the warmth, the life, anchored me.
Nicholas joined me, leaning against the railing. "You should rest," he said.
"I cannot."
"You keep saying that". He studied me for a moment. "You saw him clearly?"
"Yes." My grip tightened on the hilt. "He was solid. Not a vision. He walked through the town like a man."
Nicholas's face darkened. "Then the Veil is open wider than we thought."
I nodded slowly. "He spoke to her. He touched her mark."
Nicholas cursed under his breath. "That means he can find her anywhere now."
I looked toward the sea. The horizon shimmered faintly under the moonlight. "He will come again."
Nicholas turned to me. "Then you must be ready to kill him."
I laughed once, hollow and without humor. "You cannot kill what was never meant to die."
He said nothing. The silence between us was thick, full of unspoken truth.
When he finally left, I stayed. The night was still, but the shadows moved at the edges of the light. I could feel Elijah's presence, soft, watchful, waiting. The air around me shifted, and for a moment, the shadows near my feet curved into a shape almost human. I saw the faint curve of a mouth. A smile.
I whispered into the dark, "You will not have her."
The shadows stirred, whispering back with my own voice. "She was never yours to keep."
The sound faded. The night grew quiet again, but I did not move. I stood there until the horizon began to bleed with the first hint of dawn.
Night had always belonged to the shadows, but now even the shadows had learned her name.