I barely had time to breathe before it happened.
The front door rattled violently. Hard. Deliberate. Insistent.
I froze. Heart hammering, every nerve screaming. Kade's hand shot to my wrist, gripping tight.
"They're here," he said, voice low but tense.
I wanted to run, to hide, to scream. But I felt the energy thrumming beneath my skin again. The pulse. The fire. The cold power that had awakened inside me earlier.
"Stay behind me," Kade ordered.
I obeyed, trembling but rooted to the spot.
The doorknob rattled. Heavy footsteps approached, deliberate, careful. Not human. Not entirely human.
I could feel them, hunters. The kind Kade had warned me about. They moved like shadows, but sharper, sharper edges than mere darkness could make.
"Focus," Kade murmured. "Feel it. Let it respond."
I closed my eyes. The humming inside me surged. Cold. Sharp. Alive. I let it flow. Let it stretch through my limbs, my hands, my chest. Let it coil and coil until it felt… mine.
The footsteps stopped. Silence.
Then—another sound. A whisper. A hiss, layered, like multiple voices in one. It came from the hall outside.
I opened my eyes. My hands glowed faintly—energy shimmering off my skin, responding to the tension, the fear, the will to survive.
Kade noticed immediately. His eyes widened just slightly. "Good," he whispered. "You're ready."
The doorknob turned. Slowly. Deliberately.
I stepped forward instinctively, hands trembling, but the energy thrummed stronger, sharper, alive. My chest surged. My pulse screamed.
The door burst open.
A figure stood there. Tall. Thin. Limbs bent at impossible angles. Eyes black, teeth sharp, almost inhuman.
It moved like liquid, sliding forward, a predator coiled in shadow.
Kade stepped in front of me, fists tight. "Elara, now!"
I focused. My hands pulsed. The energy surged outward. I felt it in my chest, through my veins, responding to my instinct, my fear, my will.
The figure recoiled. I gasped. It had never expected me to fight back.
"Focus!" Kade barked. "Don't just let it flow, command it!"
I clenched my fists. Vision blurred. The air around me shimmered, and when I opened my eyes, the figure hesitated. It paused, unsure, threatened by the power I was unleashing.
Something inside me snapped fully awake. My body pulsed with raw energy. I didn't understand it, but instinct guided me. A push, a wave, a force that emanated outward.
The hunter staggered backward. It hissed, a sound that made the air vibrate. Then it recoiled completely, melting into the shadows like smoke.
I sank to my knees, shaking. My chest heaved. "I… I did it," I whispered, disbelief and adrenaline colliding.
Kade stepped beside me, hand on my shoulder again, grounding. "Yes. You did. But that was only the first test. Only the first."
I looked up at him, eyes wide. "First test? There will be more?"
"Many more," he said, his voice calm but grim. "And they'll keep coming. You'll have to get stronger. Faster. Smarter. The moment you hesitate… you could die."
I swallowed, fear twisting into something else, determination. Power. Something fierce and untamed.
I had felt the surge. The pulse. The energy. And for the first time, I realized… I was more than human.
I was something dangerous. Something alive. Something hunted.
And I wasn't going to run.
Not anymore.
I collapsed onto the edge of my bed, shaking, chest heaving. The energy inside me still throbbed, wild and untamed, like a living thing refusing to settle.
Kade leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching me with a mix of satisfaction and seriousness I couldn't quite read.
"You did well," he said quietly. "Better than I expected for a first time."
I swallowed hard, staring at my hands. "I… I didn't even know I could do that. How, what...how did I do that?"
Kade stepped closer, eyes dark. "Instinct. Blood. Power. All of it waking up inside you. You responded without thinking. That's why you survived."
I shook my head, feeling dizzy. "Survived? That was more than surviving. That thing outside… it was hunting me. It knew me. It..."
"Exactly," Kade interrupted. His voice softened. "Which is why you need to understand your bloodline, Elara. And the factions hunting you."
I blinked, confused and frightened. "Factions?"
He nodded, pacing slightly. "The supernatural world isn't one entity. There are clans, covens, packs, and houses. They fight. They ally. They betray. And they've been watching your family for centuries."
"Watching?" My pulse spiked. "Why my family?"
"Because your blood carries a power they've never seen before. One that can tip the balance of everything." His eyes locked onto mine. "And you're the last one left."
I shivered. "Last one? What does that mean?"
"Your parents," he said softly, "were part of a secret lineage. Not ordinary humans, not ordinary supernaturals. Something rare. Dangerous. Hidden. And they were hunted. Which is why you were hidden too, until now."
My stomach twisted. "Hunted… why? What could I possibly have that makes them chase me?"
Kade crouched slightly, voice dropping. "Because what you carry… can't be controlled. And those who want it, the hunters, the shadowed ones, they won't stop until it's in their hands, or they've destroyed it."
I swallowed hard, chest tight. "So… I'm like… a weapon?"
"You are," he said bluntly. "But not just a weapon. A key. A balance. Something ancient. Something that connects everything they've been fighting for centuries. That's why the sentinels tracked you tonight. That's why the shadows followed you."
I stared at him, mind spinning. "I don't even know how to process any of this. Supernaturals… bloodlines… hunters… keys… what does it all mean?"
"It means," he said, his eyes sharp, "that your life as you knew it is over. That normal is gone. That hiding is over. That survival, and mastery, is the only thing that matters now."
I hugged my knees, trembling. "And you're saying I can survive… with you?"
He knelt beside me, resting a hand lightly on my arm. "I'm saying you will survive, if you learn. And I'll teach you everything you need to know. About control, about power, about who's coming for you, and why."
I swallowed, fear and determination battling inside me. "And my bloodline… what is it exactly?"
Kade's gaze darkened. "You're part of a line older than most clans, older than many of the supernatural factions themselves. Something rare, something powerful… something that carries the potential to rewrite the balance of power in the supernatural world. And they've been waiting for it. Waiting for you."
I felt a chill crawl over my spine. "Rewrite the balance? They… they want me to...."
"Control it," Kade interrupted. "Or destroy it. There's no in-between. And the sooner you learn, the better your chances of surviving the first wave."
I swallowed again, mind racing. I could still feel the residual hum of my power inside me, fierce and wild, demanding acknowledgment.
"And the first step?" I asked, voice trembling.
"Training," Kade said, voice firm. "You start today. Control your energy. Understand the pulse. Learn to wield it. And then… next time, when they come, you won't just survive, you'll fight back."
I took a deep breath, trying to steady my racing heart. Fear still twisted inside me, but beneath it, something else flickered, strength. Power. Determination.
I was no longer ordinary. I was something else. And I had no choice but to embrace it.
Kade rose, hand extended. "Come on. Lesson one begins now."
I hesitated a moment, then took it, rising to my feet. My body still hummed with energy, alive and untamed, but I felt… ready.
For the first time, I realized that the shadows, the hunters, the sentinels, they had underestimated me.
And I wasn't going to make the same mistake again.