My mind races with the recollection. The porch. The mist. The trap. Memory crashes back all at once, and I jerk violently against the restraints, but the metal bites deeper into my skin.
“Easy there.”
The unfamiliar voice cuts through the darkness like a knife, and I freeze. Slowly, my eyes lift, and a figure steps out of the shadows across the cave.
A man.
A very plain, ordinary man. Human. At least…he looks human.
He’s dressed in dark tactical gear—black boots, reinforced vest, holstered weapons strapped across his chest like something straight out of a military operation. Behind him, dim lantern light reveals more figures lingering in the shadows.
Humans.
Several of them.
My stomach churns with fear and recognition, because somehow, I can make out that they’re human. There is no scent like what the werewolves carry, that rich smell of earthiness that I didn’t quite understand before, and there isn’t the smell of sulfur from the demons.
“You’re awake faster than we expected,” the man says calmly, his voice smooth, casual. Like this is just another Tuesday night.
I swallow hard. “W-who are you?” My voice comes out hoarse and cracked.
The man tilts his head slightly, studying me like I’m a specimen under glass. “Someone who’s been looking for you for a very long time.”
My pulse pounds louder. “Where am I?”
He ignores the question. Instead, he crouches in front of me. That’s when I see the faint emblem stitched onto his shoulder.
A symbol I don’t recognize—some kind of black insignia over crossed blades. But something about it makes my stomach twist. His gaze drifts to the cuffs around my wrists.
“You feel that, don’t you?” he says quietly.
I frown.
Feel what?
Then I realize what he means, when the tingling in my fingers…the heat I’ve grown used to…the faint pulse of power that’s been living beneath my skin since my magic awakened, isn’t there.
It’s gone. Completely gone. A cold emptiness fills my chest where my magic should be. Panic claws up my throat.
“What did you do to me?” I whisper.
The man smiles faintly. “Special alloy,” he says, tapping the cuff around my wrist. “Military-grade suppression tech. Designed to neutralize supernatural energy.”
My blood runs cold. “You’re…human,” I breathe, narrowing my eyes at him..
“Congratulations.” He stands slowly. “You figured that out all by yourself.”
“Yeah, but not the good kind.”
A soft laugh echoes from somewhere deeper in the cave, and another figure steps forward. This one I recognize immediately. Not the face, but the presence, and the smell of rot and decay.
The same sickening energy that followed the demons in the forest.
A demon steps into the light.
Its twisted form stretches nearly to the cave ceiling, dark skin cracked like burnt earth, glowing eyes locking onto me with predatory delight. My stomach flips violently, and the human glances back at it with mild irritation.
“Patience,” he mutters to the demon.
