The scent hit me first—sharp iron, burnt herbs, and something else… something ancient and wrong.
I stood frozen in the doorway of Alexis’s room, my eyes locked on the circle of blood still glowing under the torchlight. It pulsed faintly, like a living thing, as if the ritual had only just been completed—and whatever it had summoned hadn’t gone far.
Jayden pushed past me, his entire frame rigid with tension. “She’s gone.”
Liam knelt by the circle, running a finger close—too close—to the edge. “Still warm,” he confirmed. “She didn’t just leave. She disappeared.”
“Teleportation?” Lex offered from behind us, eyes narrowed.
I shook my head. “No. I felt it. This wasn’t just movement. This was… crossing.”
Jayden turned to me, his voice sharp. “Crossing into what?”
I didn’t answer immediate
