CRIMSON VOW

WHERE SHADOWS LEAD

The world blurred.

Liora barely felt her feet touch the ground as Adrian pulled her through the city. Buildings stretched into streaks of light and shadow, the wind cutting sharply against her skin.

This wasn’t running.

It was something else entirely.

“Adrian—” she tried, her voice breaking slightly. “Slow down—”

He didn’t.

“Not yet.”

His grip on her hand tightened—not painfully, but firmly. Like letting go wasn’t an option.

After what felt like forever—but couldn’t have been more than minutes—they stopped.

Suddenly.

Liora stumbled forward slightly, catching herself as the world snapped back into focus.

They were no longer on the main streets.

Everything was quieter here.

Darker.

An abandoned part of the city, maybe. Old buildings loomed around them, their windows black, lifeless. The air felt colder.

Still.

Too still.

Liora pulled her hand free, breathing hard. “What—what was that?”

Adrian didn’t answer right away. He was scanning the area, his posture tense, alert.

Listening.

Waiting.

“For now… we’re safe,” he said finally.

“For now?” she repeated, frustration creeping into her voice. “You keep saying things like that.”

“Because it’s the truth.”

Liora let out a sharp breath, running a hand through her hair. “Okay, no. I’m done just following along. You’re going to explain this to me.”

He looked at her then.

Really looked.

Like he was deciding something.

“You won’t like the answer.”

“Try me.”

A beat of silence passed between them.

Then—

“Those things weren’t random,” he said. “They were sent.”

Her stomach dropped. “Sent… by who?”

“Someone who knows what you are.”

There it was again.

Liora’s chest tightened. “You keep saying that like I’m something other than human.”

“You are.”

The certainty in his voice made her pulse spike.

“No,” she shook her head immediately. “No, that’s not possible. I’ve lived my whole life—”

“A life you don’t fully remember.”

She froze.

“What?”

Adrian stepped closer, his gaze locked onto hers.

“Tell me something,” he said quietly. “Before all of this started… before the dreams, the feeling… did anything ever seem off to you?”

Liora hesitated.

Her mind flickered.

Moments she had ignored.

Strange dreams. Gaps in memory. That constant feeling of not quite belonging.

“I…” she swallowed. “Maybe. But that doesn’t mean—”

“It means everything.”

Silence fell between them.

Heavy.

Unsettling.

“Then explain it,” she said, her voice quieter now. “What am I?”

Adrian’s expression darkened slightly.

“Something rare.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“It’s the safest one I can give you.”

Frustration flared again. “You’re doing it again—”

“Because the full truth puts a target on your back,” he cut in. “And right now, it’s already there.”

As if on cue—

A sound echoed in the distance.

Low.

Unnatural.

Liora’s body tensed instantly. “Tell me that’s not—”

“It is.”

Her heart dropped.

“They found us already?”

“They never stopped tracking you.”

The words sent a chill down her spine.

Liora took a step back. “So what now? We just keep running?”

Adrian didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, he reached into his coat and pulled something out—a small, dark object.

A blade.

Thin. Sharp. Not ordinary.

He held it out toward her.

“Take it.”

Liora stared at it. “You want me to fight those things?”

“I want you to survive.”

Her hand hesitated before reaching out, fingers wrapping around the handle. It felt cold—unnaturally so.

“I don’t even know how to use this,” she said.

“You will.”

The confidence in his voice didn’t comfort her.

If anything, it made things worse.

Another sound echoed.

Closer this time.

Adrian’s gaze snapped toward the darkness.

“They’re here.”

Liora’s grip tightened on the blade, her pulse racing.

Fear surged through her—

But beneath it…

Something else.

That same heat.

That same power stirring under her skin.

“Stay close,” Adrian said, stepping in front of her once more.

This time, she didn’t hesitate.

Didn’t question.

She moved closer to him, her heart pounding.

Because now she understood one thing clearly—

Running wasn’t going to save her.

And whatever she was becoming…

Was just starting to wake up.