No one noticed as I slipped around the back of the sleek, modern-style building, my footsteps light as breath on stone. Sirens wailed somewhere distant, people screamed, and the scent of burning smoke laced the air. I knew the injured would be flooding the healer’s hut within seconds—I had to move fast.
With a sharp inhale, I clenched my fist and drove it through the back window. Glass shattered, shards raining down like glittering rain. I didn’t pause to check for cuts—I climbed in, boots crunching over broken pieces, and landed in a crouch inside the room.
Shelves lined the walls, filled with neatly labelled tinctures, powders, and bandages. I didn’t waste time reading. I pulled the small canvas bag from under my shirt and swept handfuls of supplies into it—whatever I could grab. My fingers moved on instinct. Painkillers, coagulants, elixirs—I knew enough to recognize the good stuff by shape and smell, even in a rush.
Voices neared. A pair of footsteps, close. I heard boots on tile.
No more time.
I flattened my back against the wall of the healer hut, sliding along to avoid being spotted through the windows. Through the warped glass at the front door, I could see a Shade approaching.
“Fuck.” I whispered aloud. I fell to the ground and made a frantic crawl to the back door with my prize in hand.
I dove back out the shattered window, landing hard and sprinting into the alley, shadows crawling up my arms like serpents eager to protect me.
People were everywhere, in shades of red and grey. It was a maelstrom of racing soldiers and medics, trying to save the lives of the innocents caught in the crossfire. I made myself small as I ran, relying on my shadows to deflect attention. But I wasn’t looking. I was only running.
Just before I got back to my grate, I slammed into something warm. Solid.
Arms like steel clamped around me.
I froze. Terror surged up my throat like bile. I looked up—and stared into green eyes like shattered emeralds.
Thorne.
He stared down at me, his grip unshakable, gaze sharp with amusement and curiosity. “Hello, little shadow,” he murmured.
I didn’t think.
I let go.
Let the fear guide me.
The shadows obeyed.
They exploded around me with enough force to throw the Shade hard into the side of the wall, which cracked on impact. The sound was a roaring thunder I had never experienced.
A rush of cold swept through my veins, and in an instant, my body dissolved—bones melting into mist, flesh slipping into smoke. Thorne leaped up, blood dripping down his face from the impact and made a grab for me, but his arms closed on air as I melted between his fingers, vanishing into the darkness at his feet.
I didn’t wait to see his reaction.
Iran.
Silent. Weightless. Pure shadow.
It was like nothing I had ever experienced. I wasn’t flesh or bone anymore—just vapour, shadow, smoke. I rode the air like a ghost on the wind, slipping through cracks and crevices like they were open gates.
The grate loomed ahead. I didn’t hesitate—I surged forward, bursting through the narrow bars in a rush of black mist. Shouts echoed behind me. Panic. Confusion. Orders being barked. Thorne would be in pursuit—I didn’t doubt that for a second.
But it didn’t matter.
Nothing mattered except Finn.
I had to save him.
The city was unravelling. Complete and utter chaos. The streets were streaked with blood. Bodies littered the roads like broken dolls—some moving, most not. Smoke drifted from collapsed buildings, screams painted the sky. It was war and carnage, and it was only just beginning.
I reached the other side of the wall and stumbled forward, letting the shadows peel off me like water down skin. I solidified mid-step, landing hard on the cobbled street, my breath ripping through my lungs.
