Chapter 9
444 Words
Three sharp knocks echoed on the door.
Not loud.
Not rushed.
Just… certain.
“Rafe…” she whispered. “What do we do?”
“Don’t move.”
He pressed one hand against the air.
A faint blue barrier shimmered for a second, wrapping the room.
But the knocking stopped.
Then—
A hand phased through the door.
Not breaking it.
Not opening.
Just passing through like smoke.
A Seeker stepped in.
Tall.
Face blank.
Eyes pitch black.
Rafe cursed under his breath. “Shadow-class Seeker.”
The Seeker pointed at Alina.
“You awakened. Come with us.”
“No,” Rafe answered.
“She’s not going anywhere.”
The Seeker tilted its head.
“You cannot protect her.
Not from us.
Not from him.”
“Him?” Alina whispered.
The Seeker’s eyes shifted—
from black to glowing white.
And in a voice that wasn’t its own—
Kael spoke through it:
“Run if you want, Alina.
I’ll still find you.”
The body collapsed.
Rafe grabbed her hand.
“We need to leave. NOW.”
She didn’t hesitate.
For the first time, they weren’t just running from danger—
…they were running from someone she used to know.
The moment they escaped the safehouse, the cold wind hit her like a slap.
Everything felt too sharp.
Too alive.
“Rafe… I can see the air.”
“What?”
“The air—it's glowing. Like lines. Threads.”
Rafe stopped running.
“Threads?”
She nodded.
Silver lines stretched across the street, invisible to normal eyes, guiding them like paths of energy.
Rafe whispered, stunned,
“Alina… that’s the Lunar Sight. Only the strongest can see threads.”
“What do they do?”
“They lead you to safety… or danger. Depending on who you follow.”
“But I can’t tell which is which!”
Rafe held her face with both hands.
“Listen to me. Don’t follow the brightest one. Bright means trap. Follow the dimmest—always.”
She closed her eyes, inhaled, and looked again.
Three glowing paths lay in front of them:
one blinding bright,
one medium,
one almost invisible.
“The faint one goes into the forest,” she said.
“Then that’s our way.”
Rafe took her hand.
“Alina… stay close.
Those threads exist for you.
They don’t show up for me.”
“You mean—”
“Only the marked can use them,” he said.
“And right now, you’re the strongest marked alive.”
She swallowed.
“What about Kael?”
Rafe looked away.
“Kael wasn’t born marked.
He stole his power.”
- Writer
