But something did happen.I felt it, a presence in the darkness, a watchful, hungry thing that wanted something from me.
Slowly, I force myself to move, peeling off my coat and hanging it on the hook by the door.My hands are still shaking.I turn on every light as I move through the house, checking windows, making sure they’re locked.Everything is secure.Everything is normal.
I almost laugh at myself.You’re losing it, Tessa.There’s nothing—
I see it when I come back to the front door to grab my purse.
There, on my porch, right in front of the door, etched into the wood: a symbol.Intricate lines and curves forming a pattern I don’t recognize, beautiful and terrible all at once.And it’s made of solid ice, a crystalline ice that doesn’t melt despite the warmth radiating from inside my home.
I stare at it, my blood turning to slush in my veins.
Someone orsomethingwas here.On my porch.At my door.While I was fumbling with my keys, it was right there, close enough to touch me.
Close enough to mark me.
I step back from the door, my mind reeling.I should call someone.Hannah.The police.Blade.
Vex.
But I don’t move.I stand there in my too-bright house, staring at the symbol on my porch, and I know with absolute certainty my quiet life in Crystal Creek is over.
Whatever’s been watching this town, whatever left those impossible tracks in the snow...
It’s found me.
And from the way the ice symbol glitters in the porch light like a promise, like a claim, I have a terrible feeling it’s not going to let me go.
Chapter Two
––––––––
Vex
Five o’clock.
The bell chimes, and I push through the door of Betty’s Café, my boots heavy on the worn floorboards.The air inside is warm, thick with the smell of coffee and cinnamon, and underneath it’s all her.
