"How convenient—you've done all the hard work of finding it for me," she said, her voice like silk over steel. "I do love efficient adversaries."
With a casual flick of her wrist, everyone except Sam and Delilah froze mid-motion—Zelda with her hands raised for a defensive spell, Mac reaching for his leaning toward the ground to access his earth power, Ivy and Rafe in protective stances. They remained conscious but immobile, like insects trapped in amber.
"What did you do to them?" Delilah demanded, struggling to her feet beside Sam.
The witch smiled. "Time-suspension spell. Don't worry, they'll be fine. Well, until I decide they won't be."
Sam felt the change coming, welcomed it. His teeth sharpened, nails extending into claws as he positioned himself between Delilah and the intruder. "You're The Collector's witch."
"How reductive," she sighed, floating closer to the orb still sitting on the table. "I prefer 'acquisitions specialist.' And you must be the magical pair everyone's talking about. The shifter and the seer. How disappointingly... traditional."
Sam's enhanced vision caught something strange—a darker shadow behind the witch, massive and formless, seeming to connect to her like puppet strings. It vanished when he focused directly on it.
"What do you want with the orb?" Delilah asked, her hand finding Sam's arm.
"Want? Oh, I'm just picking up what belongs to my employer." The witch gestured toward the orb. "The Eye of Cassandra is merely one piece of a much larger puzzle. A puzzle you two are apparently destined to disrupt."
She snapped her fingers, and the shadows in the room deepened, pooling unnaturally on the floor before rising into vaguely humanoid shapes with too-long limbs and fingers like knives.
"I'd love to stay and chat about your adorable memory bubbles and touching connection, but I have a schedule to keep." The witch's hand closed around the orb. "My shadows will keep you company. They're quite friendly—if you don't mind being torn to shreds."
Sam's transformation accelerated, muscles rippling beneath his skin as the partial shift took hold. He growled, the sound rumbling from deep in his chest.
"I've never been good at playing with others," he snarled, "but I make an exception for Delilah."
The witch's eyebrows rose. "How sweet. But ultimately futile."
As she turned to leave, Sam caught it again—that massive shadow behind her, momentarily visible as it seemed to pull at her, directing her movements like a marionette. The witch's expression flickered briefly to one of pain before settling back into smug confidence.
The shadow creatures surged forward, their forms shifting and stretching as they advanced.
"Any ideas?" Sam asked, pressing his back against Delilah's.
"Just one," she replied, reaching for his hand. "Let's see if those memory bubbles were onto something."
Delilah's hand found Sam's, their fingers interlocking as the shadow creatures advanced. The moment their skin touched, warmth surged through her arm—not just emotional heat but actual magical energy crackling between them.
"Well, that's new," she muttered, feeling her hair lifting slightly with static electricity.
The first shadow creature lunged, its knife-like fingers slashing toward her face. Sam yanked her sideways, his partial transformation giving him lightning reflexes. His claws tore through the creature, which dissipated into smoke before reforming.
"They can't be killed," Delilah realized, backing against the overturned table. "They're not really here—they're projections."
"Tell that to my claws," Sam growled, showing bloody scratches where one had caught his forearm. "They feel plenty real."
The silver-haired witch floated near the ceiling, watching with detached amusement while cradling the orb. "Oh good, you've figured it out. That will make this so much more interesting."
Zelda's three cats hissed from their hiding places, Fat Bastard particularly vocal from beneath the couch. The sound gave Delilah an idea.
"Sam, they're made of shadow. We need light!"
Understanding flashed across his face. He dove for the lanterns on Zelda's shelf while Delilah grabbed a handful of Zelda's illumination powder from the counter. She tossed it into the air just as a shadow creature wrapped its elongated fingers around her throat.
"Begone, you overdramatic smudge!" she choked out, the powder igniting in a blinding flash.
The creature recoiled, its form wavering. Sam smashed a lantern at the feet of two more, the magical flames spreading in a circle of blue fire that pushed the shadows back temporarily.
"Impressive teamwork," the witch called down. "But ultimately futile. My master has waited centuries for this moment."
