I didn't sleep much that night. Or rather, I didn't sleep at all. Every time I closed my eyes, the images from the warehouse flashed behind my eyelids: Dorian's warnings, the shadows, the promise of something worse lurking just around the corner. I tried to push it all away, but it clung to me like a second skin.
The first light of morning came too soon. I had a feeling that, despite everything, it was going to be one of those days. The kind where nothing went right, where every choice felt wrong. The kind of day I didn't want to face but knew I had to.
I hadn't heard from Dorian since our meeting the night before, which I figured was a good thing. It gave me time to think, to try to understand the mess I'd found myself in. The shadows, the bloodline, the prophecy. My bloodline. It all felt like a tangled web that kept getting more complicated the more I tried to untangle it.
I tried to drown it out with work, a temporary distraction that never lasted long. But no matter how many pages I turned or how many books I stacked around me, my thoughts kept drifting back to that cursed manuscript, to the secrets Dorian had let slip, and to the strange sense of dread that had settled in my chest.
I was sitting at my kitchen table, staring at a cup of cold coffee that I'd forgotten about, when the knock came. The door was barely open before I heard the voice.
"I'm not letting you run away from this," Dorian said, as though he'd been standing there for hours.
I didn't even look up. "What do you want?"
"We need to talk."
I sighed, pushing the coffee cup aside and standing up. The last thing I wanted was another round of cryptic conversation with Dorian. But there was no avoiding him now. I couldn't ignore what he'd said last night. The shadows were still out there, and they were still coming for me.
I opened the door all the way, stepping aside to let him in. He walked in like he owned the place, his usual dark, brooding presence filling the small apartment.
"I didn't expect you to show up here," I said, crossing my arms, trying to keep my cool.
"You didn't think I'd leave you alone, did you?" Dorian replied, his eyes narrowing. "I've seen what you're capable of, Evelyn. And I'm not going to let you walk into something you don't understand."
"Just like that, huh?" I said, the bitterness in my tone sharper than I intended. "You think you can just swoop in and fix everything?"
Dorian didn't respond immediately. He just stared at me, as if weighing my words. Finally, he sighed, like he was about to give up, but then his voice dropped to a softer tone. "It's not about fixing it. It's about surviving it."
I didn't know what to say to that. He was right. I didn't understand everything, and I was far from being in control. But I wasn't about to admit it. Not to him. Not to anyone.
"What's your plan?" I asked instead, trying to sound uninterested, like I didn't care.
"My plan? You're in the middle of something much bigger than you realize. And the longer you stay out of the loop, the worse it'll get."
That hit me hard. It was the truth, plain and simple. If I kept going the way I was, I'd be swallowed whole. "So, what now?"
"We figure out what's going on with the shadows," Dorian said, moving closer. "And we figure out why they're after you."
I didn't respond. What was there to say? I had no answers. Not yet. But the fact that he was standing there, telling me all this, meant I was already in deeper than I ever thought possible. And I hated it.
Dorian looked at me for a long moment, like he was seeing something I wasn't. "You don't know it yet, Evelyn, but your bloodline holds more than just the curse. There's power in you. The kind of power that the shadows want. They'll stop at nothing to get it."
I frowned. "You keep saying that. But what does that even mean?"
He shook his head, frustration flaring in his eyes. "I can't explain it all right now. But I can show you." He moved toward the door, as if he was about to leave.
I didn't know why, but the thought of him walking out again made something inside me twist. Maybe it was fear, maybe it was something else, but I couldn't just let him go.
"Wait," I called out before I could stop myself. "What do you mean, 'show me'?"
He paused, looking back at me. "You'll see soon enough."
I didn't understand what he meant, but I knew I wasn't going to like it. I couldn't ignore the growing sense that I was about to learn something that might change everything.
Dorian was quiet for a moment before he stepped back toward me. "Come with me. There's something I need you to understand."
I didn't want to. I didn't want to know. But I was already caught in this web. And if there was any chance of surviving it, I needed to hear what he had to say.
I followed him out of the apartment without saying another word, my mind racing as we moved through the streets. The world outside was loud, chaotic, but my head was too full of noise to focus on anything other than Dorian. What he had to show me. The shadowy secrets that were waiting to tear everything apart.
We arrived at a familiar place—an old, rundown building at the edge of the city. I recognized it. It was one of the last places I wanted to be, but here I was.
"We're going inside?" I asked, hesitating. "What's in there?"
Dorian didn't answer at first. He just pushed the door open and stepped inside, disappearing into the darkness. I hesitated for a second longer, but something told me I had no choice.
The moment I crossed the threshold, a chill ran down my spine. The air felt heavy, thick with something I couldn't place. I followed Dorian deeper into the building, my heart pounding.
"I'll show you," Dorian said again, his voice low. "You'll understand what you are, Evelyn. The truth about your bloodline."
And as we moved further into the shadows, I had the sinking feeling that nothing would ever be the same again.