**Zelene**
The world trembled.
The ground beneath my feet split open, jagged cracks glowing with the same sickly green as Delores’s magic. Mikey clung to me, his small fingers digging into my arms as my blue flames flickered around us like a shield.
*This isn’t just magic.*
*This is something older. Something worse.*
Delores stood at the center of the chaos, her arms outstretched, her lips moving in a chant that made my bones ache. The air itself seemed to warp around her, reality bending under the weight of whatever she was summoning.
Cain was on his knees nearby, his body convulsing, his skin splitting as something *inside* him fought to get out. His screams were barely human.
Mikey buried his face against my chest. “Mom, I’m scared—”
“I know, baby,” I whispered,
