“Asha, try and wake as many people as you ca—
Too late.
It’s back.
The darkness corrupts the space faster than my mind can comprehend, and suddenly it is all I can feel. Its murky limbs seem to burrow into every orifice, smothering even the memory of light inside me. My lungs expand, but the air slips away, as though the darkness itself has stolen the oxygen from the room.
“Run,” I shout into the void, praying my words aren’t swallowed the way my breath is. The shadows thicken, pressing in from every side as my eyes strain to focus through the gloom. Nala’s voice fractures into a hundred overlapping echoes, ricocheting from every direction at once.
“Over here.” Her voice sounds close and far at once—loud yet whisper-soft, echoing from everywhere and nowhere.
Bodies clog the space, slowing me, but I shove through them and ignite an orb, its light flaring bright enough to banish the shadows. The crowd, still trapped in their trance, recoils from the glow, parting like water and carving a clear path forward.
I spot the exit doors ahead and turn back to make sure Nala, River, and Ryder are close behind—but their faces twist in shock, and I know instantly that something is wrong.
My hair reacts first—prickling, standing on end. Then the cold hits, seeping into my bones as a shadow stretches over me. I swallow hard.
An alien sound slithers behind me—chittering, static-laced, like a broken radio—and I freeze. Slowly, carefully, I turn my head, forcing my breath to stay steady.
Shit.
The faceless being stands between me and the door. It tilts its head, studying me. The hollow of its mouth drips with black glue, oozing and pooling as it shrieks and lunges.
“Asha, run!” Ryder grabs my arm, shadow hawks bursting from his hands and streaking toward the creature. It catches them mid-flight, crushing them into obsidian sludge that smears across its skin. I watch in horror as it grows—just a few inches taller—as if the hawks fed it.
What the fuckisthis thing?
“Asha, portal—now!” Ryder shouts as the bodies begin closing in.
“What about Trina?” Nala cries, panic breaking through her voice.
But River has already dragged her through the portal.
Chapter Twelve
“Ryder, you mind telling me what the fuck that was?” River asks, peeling himself off the cold, hard floor we landed on.
“And what makes you think I know what that thing was?” Ryder grits his teeth, bristling as he props himself up, a flicker of offence in his eyes.
“Uh, I dunno… maybe because of the immense fucking shadows seeping out from the bloody thing,” River snaps back, narrowing his gaze.
Ryder scoffs but pauses, his eyes scanning the room. Something about the tiles on the walls catches him off guard.
“Where are we?” he mutters, his voice low and cautious.
This can’t be right… I didn’t portal here.
“We’re in my kitchen… in my village.” My voice trembles slightly despite my attempt at calm. My eyebrows knit in worry.
“Why are we here?” Nala asks, her fingers brushing against the frame of a picture of my dad and me on the counter, lingering as if seeking reassurance.
I swallow hard. “I don’t know… I didn’t mean to portal here.” My words falter. Ryder slides a chair back with a scrape and sinks onto it, rubbing his temples like the motion can erase the confusion.
“I think I just… thought of my dad for a split second and—” My voice trails off, uncertainty clawing at me.
“Where is he?” River’s voice cuts through the silence, sharper now, eyes darting around the empty kitchen, noticing the smashed glass on the floor.
My breath catches as my eyes stop at the clock on the wall.
