I didn't sleep.
Not a wink. Not a second.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the flickering shadows. The impossibly tall figure from my apartment. The whispering hum of something ancient, probing, testing.
Kade had stayed with me, perched on the edge of my bed, silent but alert. I knew he hadn't slept either. He hadn't looked away from me for more than a second since we'd gotten inside.
"Why are you still here?" I asked, voice hoarse.
"Because you're mine until I know you're safe," he said simply.
I wanted to argue, but something about the weight of his gaze pinned me in place. The truth was… I wasn't safe. Not even close.
"What happens now?" I whispered.
"Now?" His lips curved just slightly, almost a smile, but not. "Now we start figuring out what you are. And why they're after you."
I shivered. "Why me?"
"Because you're not like anyone else," he said. "And there's a bloodline in you you don't even know exists. One that carries power. One that has been hidden for centuries."
I swallowed hard. "Bloodline?"
"Yes. Your family… they weren't ordinary. That's why you've always felt different. That's why the man at the bus stop and the silhouette knew your name immediately. They recognized it. Recognized you."
My chest tightened. "You mean… I'm… like… some kind of… supernatural?"
"Yes," he said, flat and matter-of-fact. "But more than that. Something rare. Something valuable. Something dangerous. To you, and to them."
I sank onto the edge of my bed. "I can't… I don't even know where to start. How do I… survive? How do I… control whatever this is?"
Kade stepped closer, voice low. "You'll learn. Slowly. But first, you need to understand one thing: you're not human in the way you think. Not entirely. And pretending you are will only get you killed."
I stared at him. My pulse racing. My mind spinning. "Not human?"
"Part of you isn't." He crouched slightly, his gaze locking onto mine. "There's a reason your blood carries something they fear. There's a reason your aura is… different. And there's a reason you've been hidden for so long."
"Hidden? By who?"
"By your own bloodline," he said, voice heavy. "By those who knew what power you carry, and who wanted to protect you until you could awaken."
I felt my stomach twist. "Awaken? You mean… tonight?"
"Yes." Kade exhaled. "Tonight was your first awakening. That's why the shadows recoiled. That's why the man outside was tracking you. They sense it now."
"Sense what?" I whispered.
"The part of you they've been waiting for. The part of you that can't be controlled. The part that can tip the balance in ways the world wasn't ready for."
I hugged myself, trembling. "This is insane. I… I don't even know who I am anymore."
Kade's eyes softened, just for a fraction. "You'll know soon. And I'll be there to guide you. But Elara… you have to trust me."
"I don't even know if I can," I admitted.
"You can." He stepped closer, firm but not aggressive. "Because right now, your life depends on it."
I closed my eyes. My body still thrummed with power. Electric. Alive. Something awakened. Something ancient. Something that had been waiting.
And beneath the fear, beneath the panic… a spark of something else flickered.
Strength.
Fury.
Determination.
I wasn't going to run forever.
Not if they came for me.
Not if whatever hunted me thought I was prey.
I would fight.
I would awaken.
And I would survive.
Kade crouched beside me, his hand brushing lightly against mine. "Tomorrow," he whispered, "we begin the lessons. How to control the power. How to use it. How to survive the hunters and the shadows."
I nodded. My pulse still racing, body trembling, but my mind already sharpening.
And as I lay back against the bed, eyes staring at the ceiling, I realized:
This was no longer about ordinary life.
This was no longer about hiding.
This was about awakening a power I didn't fully understand… and facing a world that had been waiting centuries for me to rise.
And I would.
No matter what.
Morning came like a shard of ice through my window.
I woke to the sun slicing across the room, but it didn't bring warmth. Only the cold, heavy knowledge that the night's events hadn't been a dream. They had been real. Every shadow, every whisper, every pulse of strange energy, I had felt it.
Kade was already awake, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, eyes dark and unreadable. He didn't move when I stirred, didn't say a word. But the air around him was… different. Focused. Protective. Tense.
"You need to eat," he said finally, his voice low and calm, but not gentle.
"I'm not hungry," I muttered, though my stomach knotted. Fear had stolen appetite before, but the residual adrenaline gnawed at me.
"You will be," he said. "We have work to do."
I sat up, hair tousled, and rubbed my eyes. "Work? What kind of work?"
"The kind that keeps you alive," he said, standing and moving to the center of the room. His presence filled the space like a shadow itself, heavy, undeniable.
I swallowed hard. "You're not joking about any of this, are you?"
He shook his head. "Not a word. Everything I told you last night was true. And there's more you need to understand. Quickly."
I shivered. "More?"
"Yes. You're going to need to control your power. The awakening… it won't be enough to keep you safe. You can't just survive; you have to fight back."
"Fight back?" The words trembled in my throat. "I don't even know how to..."
"You will." His voice cut through my panic like steel. "First lesson: focus. Concentrate on the energy inside you. Feel it, don't fear it. Let it flow through you, let it respond."
I blinked at him, hesitant. "Energy?"
"Yes. What you felt last night, that spark. That pulse. That… hum, it's power. Your power. And it will obey you… if you obey it first."
I swallowed. My hands trembled as I extended them in front of me. The apartment seemed heavier now. The air thicker. I could feel a faint vibration, almost like a heartbeat under the skin of the world.
"Good," Kade said softly, stepping closer. "Now, concentrate. Picture it. Feel it move, coil, stretch through your limbs. Don't think. Feel."
I shut my eyes. The room faded. The sounds of traffic, the hum of the refrigerator, all disappeared. All I could feel was… something deep, beneath my ribs, beneath my skin. Something that had always been there, dormant, waiting.
A pulse. A flicker. A surge.
And then, a jolt.
I gasped, stumbling backward. "I...I think I did something!"
Kade's eyes narrowed. "What did you feel?"
"It… it's like a fire, but cold. It moves. Inside me. And… I think it moved the air around me."
He nodded, expression unreadable. "Exactly. You felt it. That's your aura reacting. The shadows, the trackers, they can sense it. And so can the hunters."
Hunters. My stomach clenched. Not shadows. Not sentinels. Hunters. Something even worse.
"Why hunters?" I asked, voice barely above a whisper. "Why me? Why is this happening?"
"Because you carry a gift, an inheritance they want. Something ancient, something powerful. And they will do anything to claim it."
I swallowed hard. My mind spinning. "Ancient inheritance?"
"Yes," he said firmly. "And it's dangerous. You're dangerous."
I wanted to protest. I wanted to say I was ordinary. But the pulse of power under my skin refused to let me lie.
"I… I can feel it," I whispered. "It's like it's alive inside me. And… I can make it… respond."
Kade's lips curved, almost imperceptibly. "Good. That's the first step. The second step…" He crouched slightly, eyes locking onto mine. "Is learning control. Discipline. Focus under pressure. The first test won't be gentle."
I swallowed. "Test?"
"Yes. They will come. And when they do, you cannot panic. You cannot hesitate. You will have to defend yourself."
My chest tightened. "Defend… myself? I..."
"You can," he said simply. "I'll teach you. But the power comes from you, not me."
I exhaled shakily. The weight of his words sank in. I was… more than I thought. More than human. And they were coming for me.
"Are you ready?" he asked, his voice low, serious.
I swallowed, heart racing, adrenaline and fear and something else pulsing in my veins. Something electric.
"I…" I paused. The hum in my chest intensified, responding to my thoughts, my emotions. "I think I have to be."
"Good." Kade's eyes darkened. "Because they won't wait. And neither can we."
I nodded, taking a deep breath. Something inside me snapped awake, pulsing through my limbs, sharp and wild. My hands tingled, energy coiling like living wires beneath my skin.
And in that moment, I knew…
I was no longer a normal girl.
I was a weapon.
And the world was about to find out.