For a moment I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t talk.
I couldn’t even blink properly.
The shadow across the parking lot slid back behind a car like it had never been there. Like I imagined it. Like my mind was making up monsters because the night wasn’t dramatic enough already.
But I wasn’t imagining it.
I knew it.
Zayden knew it.
His entire body shifted the second he saw my expression the tightness in his shoulders sharpening, eyes narrowing like the whole world was a puzzle he needed to solve right now.
“Vivienne,” he said, stepping closer. “What did they say?”
I backed up without meaning to. Just one step. But enough for him to notice.
“They said I picked the wrong protector,” I whispered.
His jaw clenched hard. A flash of something raw crossed
