(Chapter 30:Mira's POV)
The cottage was quiet. Too quiet.
I stood by the window, watching the path the old woman had taken, unease prickling down my spine. She had only gone to gather charm ingredients—she would be back soon. But something felt off.
The air was thick, pressing against my skin like an invisible weight.
Then I heard it.
Not footsteps. Not rustling leaves.
Something… wrong.
A shiver crawled up my spine as I turned slowly, my fingers curling into fists. The dim candlelight flickered, casting shifting shadows across the room. And then, from the darkness, they came.
Twisted, grotesque things. Neither human nor beast, but something caught in between. Their bodies rippled like they were made of smoke and flesh at once, eyes glowing with an unnatural hunger.
Callidus's servants.
My breath hitched as they stepped forward, their movements fluid and unnatural, like marionettes with invisible strings.
"The master sends his regards," one of them rasped, its voice like dead leaves in the wind.
I backed up, trying to summon my magic, but the energy within me flickered, unstable.
Not now. Not now.
The first one lunged. I dodged, barely, but another grabbed my wrist, its grip like iron. A cold dread settled in my stomach. My power wasn't enough—I was not enough.
And then, something inside me snapped.
A sudden surge of magic exploded from my core, sending the creature flying across the room. The others hesitated, sensing the shift, but I was already weakening. My control was slipping.
One of them lunged again, claws outstretched—
Then everything blurred.
A shadow moved faster than I could see, a gust of wind knocking me back. And suddenly, the thing that had reached for me was gone—torn apart.
Lorenzo.
He stood in the dim light, his crimson eyes glowing like embers, his face cold with lethal fury.
"You made a mistake coming here," he said, his voice like ice.
The creatures snarled but hesitated.
Then Lorenzo moved.
Faster than breath. Faster than thought.
In an instant, the room became a battlefield. I barely had time to stumble back as he ripped through them—a blur of claws and shadows. One moment, they were attacking, the next, they were falling apart, shredded like paper.
But there were too many. And my magic was still unstable.
Lorenzo's head snapped toward me, his voice sharp in my mind.
"Run."
I didn't argue. I turned and bolted out the door, hearing him follow close behind.
We didn't stop. Not when the wind howled around us, not when distant snarls echoed behind us.
We ran.
And somehow I knew exactly where we were going.
Somewhere even Callidus wouldn't dare to follow or would actually tried to.
To the ancient stronghold of the Lycans.