Lucien stepped from out of the shadows, his figure emerging silently, like something born of the darkness itself. The room was still dark, the soft, steady breathing of Ashar and Riven filling the air, their forms sprawled across the bed. Mae, nestled between them, remained unaware, her chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm, untouched by the disturbance that was now growing in intensity. Not for long. The sound, a scraping, low and unnatural, brought a shiver down his spine. It was a noise that didn’t belong, an ancient echo from deep within the earth. The very walls of the room seemed to hum with it, vibrating with a force that was far too old to be ignored.
Lucien took another step, his body moving in a fluid, controlled motion, despite the tightness that gripped his chest. The pu
