roft hate

ht degrees to protect pieces of parchment that were older than the concept of paper. It was the smell. They smelled

hievement. To Lena, it was a graveyard where history sat be

ricted wing-the "Old World" wing-stifling a yawn as the last of the evening's VIP tour groups shuffled past the velvet ropes. The

, in her cramped studio apartment with its peeling wal

fully ordinary, and tonight wa

pocket of her black uniform trousers. She'd spent the last year trying to rebuild a life that had shattered when her engagement ende

rdinary world fel

cheap caffeine. Then she blamed the city. But doctors couldn't explain why she woke up eve

ivid, jagged shards of a

fire so hot the sky turned purple, and the sound of someone screaming her name-a name that wasn't Lena, but

against her ribs like a trapped bird, clutching

ed Somatic Flashbacks." Her therap

called it

er than usual, the shadows pooling in the corners where the ancient artifacts rested. The temperature had dropped ten degrees

tered, her voice echoing too lo

usually soothed her. She passed a collection of Celtic swords, then a display o

he case at the ver

pend

f biting its own tail-an Ouroboros of fur and fang. The placard claimed it was a cer

hated it since it a

solar plexus. It was a feeling of profound recognition, the way you mig

er-pale skin, dark circles under her eyes, and a mass of dark hair

he pai

he. It was a violen

d just below her collarbone. It felt like someone had p

-Go

s clawing at her shirt. Her vision swam, the white marble o

endant beg

play tricks. But the silver chain was rattling against the velvet. The medal

Cling

er hitting the glass

r heart pounding a fran

silence. The dim, orange emergency lights kicked in, bathing the hall in a sickly, apocalyptic glow. The

n, she

, the weight of an ocean about to crash down. It was ancient, predatory, and achingly familiar. It

the floor hard, her palms sc

the word caught in h

empty. Only the sta

world f

didn't feel like stone anym

ISION: THE

burning pine

uare was a blur of angry faces and mud-splattered tunics. The sky was a bruis

y screamed.

asn't a witch; she was a girl who knew how to stop a fever. But the villagers didn't care about the

It was a terrifying, orange b

she s

He moved too fast, his eyes glowing like embers in the twilight. He roa

limbed her skirts, his fingers bru

!" she

re consumed

ION: THE SOLDI

replaced by a cold so sharp i

the metallic tang of fresh blood. All around her, the sounds of Waterloo were

a crimson stain spreading across her white bodice. A str

h me! Loo

coat, but his face was the same. The same sharp jaw, the same d

lood bubbling in the back of

essed hard against her wound, but the blood just kept coming.

. He was sobbing, a sound of such profound, imm

hispered as the

ays find yo

SION: THE SC

smell of blood turned to the scent

lit library. A glass of wine sat on the table besid

with dark hair and a crue

tching as Lena's hand trembled. "But he is a monster, my dear. An

nt. Lena's heart slowe

burst ope

but the exhaustion in his soul was visible in the w

ran to Lena, catching her b

isper. "Not this time. We had only a y

numb. She could only watch as the gol

AWAK

her voice echoing through the res

her body racking with sobs. The visions had been so real she

't kno

ul was screaming back at her, de

the case sudd

mond-like shards. The silver wolf-medallion snapped in half, the t

tched shrieks bounced off the walls. Red lights spun, pa

was gone. Her mind felt like a hous

ping, staring at t

e?" she whispered hoa

een. Her skin was raised. She could feel the shape of it. A crescent. A mark. It f

'am! Can y

lashlights cut through the darkness. Sec

! Lena, st

's hemorrhaging or some

t her voice was gone. Her vision was dimming at the edges, the world shrink

e the darkness claimed her wa

t surge of power that made the guards freez

e was

eren't com

HOSP

was a temple of sterile whit

oxygen mask. Lena was vaguely aware of being rolled through corridors, o

d sedated her, or tried to, but the vi

ard didn't just open-it was

He looked like a force of nature dressed in a thousand-pound suit. He was soaked to the bone

re!" a young doctor shoute

walking. The doctor was physically shoved aside by a wall o

aused, his hand trembling as

for this moment. For seven hundred ye

er-pale, fragile, and marked by the moon

nees beside her bed. He didn't touch her-he didn't d

, his voice thick with a gr

ren't their usual brown. For a fleeting se

" she wh

question. It

on began to weep red. The