Chapter 1
The house was quiet, but Lucy’s mind refused to rest. Sleep had abandoned her for nights now, ever since the truth had come crashing down.
Nephilim.
The word alone made her chest feel tight. She wasn’t fully human. Not the girl she thought she was and not the daughter of the parents she had mourned for thirteen years. They weren’t her parents at all, and her real ones were long dead.
The knowledge gnawed at her. She still didn't have the courage to look for answers. Every book that might explain, every question she might ask, sat in a heavy pile of silence. Research could wait. Right now, she could barely keep her own thoughts together.
Except they weren’t just her thoughts anymore.
At first it was a whisper. Barely there, a soft echo at the edge of her mind.
Connect.
She tried to ignore it, pulling the blankets tighter around herself.
Connect.
But it grew louder with every passing night, like a dripping tap in an empty room.
Connect. Connect.
By tonight, it was no longer ignorable. It pulsed beneath her skull, buzzing and relentless.
Lucy pushed back the covers and stood abruptly, pacing the room in the dark. Her bare feet hit the floor in restless rhythm as she muttered under her breath.
“Connect what? Connect to who?”
Her voice cracked, and still the word pounded on.Connect. Connect. Connect.
She pressed her palms to her ears, but the sound only multiplied, reverberating inside her like church bells rung too close. It was maddening. The whisper became a chant. The chant became a roar.
Her breaths came sharp and shallow. “Stop it! Stop!” she screamed, tears stinging her eyes.
The word didn’t stop. It thundered louder, filling every corner of her mind until she could barely see straight. Pain stabbed through her temples.
She dropped to her knees, clutching her head, sobbing, “What’s happening to me?”
From across the room, Byron stirred. He was still healing, though with what he was, wounds never lingered long, but the sound of her pain roused him. His movements were sluggish at first, then sharper, protective instinct taking over as he pushed himself upright.
“Lucy?” His voice was thick with sleep. “What’s wrong?”
She barely heard him. The voice had swollen until it was all she could hear. Her sobs turned to screams as she rocked forward, shaking violently.
Byron was at her side in seconds, crouching low, his hands gripping her shoulders. “Lucy, look at me. Focus!”
His words were muffled, swallowed by the storm in her mind.
And then, it broke.
Her head snapped back, her eyes flying open, blazing with a light that wasn’t human. Deep, unnatural violet poured from her gaze.
Her sobs ceased. The trembling stopped.
In a voice not entirely her own, eerie in its calmness, she whispered a single word.
“Connect.”
