The first shape hit the floor with a wet crack, glass raining down like jagged snow. For a heartbeat, there was only silence — then the dark figure rose from the shards in a ripple of shadow, taller than any human should be, draped in something that might have once been a cloak but now hung like torn skin.
Rowan felt the crackle of its presence before it even moved. It wasn’t witch, vampire, or anything her magic knew how to name. It smelled wrong, like spoiled earth and old blood. She stepped back, forcing her breathing into something steady as her palms hummed with raw power.
Lucien didn’t move. He stood between her and the creature, his shoulders squared, his hands loose at his sides. When he spoke, his voice was so low Rowan almost missed the words.
“Stay behind me.”
Rowan almost l
