e said to herself.

e was watching her. She turned back, but there was no one there. Just a few people walking by

like something she knew. Her heart skipped a beat. She t

the hairs on the back

she yelled, her

f the darkness. One of them went forward and looked

ena," he murmured in a hush

epped back. She felt panic risi

ra

Her heart was still pounding in her chest, but it wasn't simply from sprinting. Sh

a chair, and a lonely kitchen table. It felt like a jai

as quiet, the past

l cut through her, and every "curse" and "weakness" rang like a bell. His

use of you," his voice rang in

hands over her eyes to block everythi

couldn't get away from him

tsunami. She could still feel the burn of Lucien's tou

st, making her gasp for oxygen. Th

ket and lay down on the bed, but she couldn't stop shivering. The darkne

ad been hoping for a sign of it for days, but there wa

mething insi

older and darker, and there was an

cing. She couldn't stay here. She had to g

n't know wh

, which made Serena's eyes flutter shut. T

dden. Her heart raced, and her body shook with a

away from Lucien, the pack, a

simply her c

It was a dark, dangerous entity that scratched at

her breath came

Not a single thing.

nt from shadow to shadow. The city felt different now: empty, heavy, and chilly. She thought

y, was calm and buried deep inside her, refusing to come out. Every night, she l

home, a little apartment hidden away in an area of the city that no one els

test breeze touched her skin

ed at her that s

. Was it just h

of her neck stood up. S

haking hands. And then the whis

o a tunnel, and the sounds of the city faded away behind her. She couldn't stay i

ushing her forward, and her body seemed heavier, as if she were carrying more than just her own weight. There was a fa

d in her bones. There was a rogue pack n

of nowhere and reso

oice said fro

e dark was tall and broad-shouldered, and their e

a voice that was bo