Marin's bedroom felt impossibly small as she sat on the edge of her bed, her hands twisting the edge of her hoodie. Averic's words replayed in her mind, refusing to fade. A world of shadows? Enemies who hunted him? And somehow, she was tied to all of it.
A sharp knock on her window startled her. She froze—then the impossible happened. Averic was there, perched lightly on the sill, as though gravity didn't touch him. His silver eyes glimmered in the dim morning light, cold yet compelling.
"You don't have to stay in ignorance," he said quietly. "You can see it… feel it… if you're ready."
Marin swallowed hard, her pulse hammering. "See what? Feel what?"
He extended a pale hand, not in threat, but as an offering. "The truth of what lives beyond your world. Step into it."
Her body trembled. Part of her screamed to run, to slam the window and hide. But another part—a part she didn't even know existed—was drawn to him, to the mystery, to the danger that made her pulse flare and her skin tingle.
Hesitating only a moment, she took his hand. And instantly, the world shifted.
Shadows stretched unnaturally along her walls. The air thickened, scented with something ancient and metallic. Her heartbeat echoed in her ears, loud enough that she thought he could hear it. And then, she saw them: faint movements in the corners of her room, shapes that shouldn't exist, flickering at the edge of her vision.
"This is only the beginning," he whispered, his lips brushing close to her ear. "You will never be safe again. Not from them… not from me."