I didn't wait for permission.
I slipped out before dawn, the forest still wrapped in blue-gray shadow. The air burned my lungs, sharp and alive, like the world was warning me to turn back.
I didn't.
Ruth's address burned behind my eyes like a compass needle.
Santiago caught up to me at the edge of the road.
"Tell me you didn't mean it," he said.
"I meant every word."
His jaw clenched. "Then you better not hesitate."
The city felt wrong.
Too quiet. Too hollow.
We followed the pull through backstreets and empty parks, the sky heavy with low clouds. Every step made my skin buzz, like static under my bones.
"You feel that?" I asked.
"Yes," Santiago said. "It's close."
The streetlight flickered.
Something unfolded from the darkness.
It wore a man's body—tall, thin, familiar in all the wrong ways. Its face shifted constantly, melting from one stranger into another, never settling.
My heart pounded.
"Stay behind me," Santiago warned.
"No."
I stepped forward.
The thing smiled.
Hunter, it hissed inside my skull. You're early.
Rage surged through me.
"Get out of her life," I said.
It laughed—a sound like bones snapping. "She tastes like fear."
I moved before Santiago could stop me.
The world snapped sideways.
I was inside the Veil.
But I was awake.
Reality peeled back, revealing a version of the street soaked in shadow and red light. The creature stood fully revealed now—too many limbs, eyes where they didn't belong.
Pain tore through my head.
Focus, Santiago's voice cut through the chaos. Anchor to me.
I grabbed his hand.
The world stabilized—barely.
"You don't belong here," I said, voice echoing with something not entirely mine.
The creature lunged.
I met it head-on.
The fight was messy. Real. Every blow hurt.
I felt its claws rake my side, felt warm blood soak my shirt. I screamed—but I didn't let go.
I saw it then.
The mark.
A burning symbol carved into its chest.
Kristoffer's signature.
"You were sent," I snarled.
It shrieked.
I struck.
Light exploded.
The creature disintegrated into ash and shadow, sucked screaming back through the tear in reality.
The Veil slammed shut.
I collapsed.
Santiago caught me before I hit the ground.
"You broke three rules," he said hoarsely.
I laughed weakly. "Still alive."
He didn't smile.
"You're changing," he said. "Faster than I've ever seen."
"Is that bad?"
His eyes burned gold in the dark. "It's dangerous."
Sirens wailed somewhere far away.
"We need to move," he said.
Ruth was alive.
Shaken. Confused.
But alive.
She stared at me like she was seeing me for the first time.
"Eliza," she whispered, "what's happening to you?"
I opened my mouth—
And shadows rippled across the walls.
Santiago turned sharply.
"We're not alone."
The lights went out.