The cottage exploded inward.
Glass and wood and stone rained down around them, but Ryan was already moving—his body between Mira and the shattered window, his scar blazing silver. The darkness poured through the opening like liquid night, thick and cold and hungry.
Elena screamed. Nelson grabbed her, pulling her behind the overturned kitchen table. Leon shoved Isabel through the back door, his gun drawn but useless against something without form.
The voice came again, from everywhere and nowhere.
"I've been waiting. Watching. The child opened the door, and I slipped through."
Mira's silver eyes blazed. "You're not welcome here."
"I don't need welcome. I need a home. And you're the only door big enough to hold me."
Ryan's scar pulsed. "She's not your door."
"She's everyone's door. S
