I stood slowly, my breath shaky, my body suspended on a wire between terror and exhilaration. As my fingers brushed the envelope, the silver seal pulsed--once, twice--like a heartbeat.
"Thalia?" a voice whispered behind me.
I turned. Mira stood at the door, eyes wide and watery. She didn't cry easily... but she was now.
"It's here," I whispered.
She ran to me and threw her arms around my waist. "I don't want you to go."
I closed my eyes and held her tightly. "I know. But this is part of who we are."
"It's not fair," she sniffed. "You're the nicest one in this family. The academy shouldn't take you."
A weak laugh escaped me. "Trust me, they're not probably expecting someone nice."
Mira stepped back, wiping her face with her sleeve. "Can i at least watch?"
I hesitated, but nodded. "Just stay by the door."
The envelope felt heavier than it should. Like every expectation, every prophecy, every whisper of destiny had been folded inside.
I broke the seal.
Instantly, the floor vanished beneath my feet. Teleportation isn't a clean snap. Not when it comes from Eclipse Dominion. It feels like falling through space and standing still all at once, like being pulled in six directions while anchored to a single point. Shadows stretched, then folded. Light twisted until it lost meaning. I wasn't sure i had a body--just motion and sensation.
Then sound rushed back first. Wind. Then sight.
A vast, swirling expanse of silver mist and echoing stars. A bridge made of obsidian, suspended in nothing. A horizon that wasn't a horizon at all--just a shifting veil of colours that didn't exist in the human spectrum. Strange constellations shifted overhead.
A chill slipped under my skin.
The Boundary Realm.
The place between the mundane world and Eclipse Dominion. A threshold, a test, a warning. I exhaled, shakily.
I wasn't alone. Hundred--maybe thousands--of supernaturals stood scattered across the expanse. A harpy snapped her wings angrily. A trio of witches argued over sigils. A dragon-blooded boy paced in agitation, scales glinting at his jaw.
Every creature imaginable.
But no one had crossed the enormous shimmering gate at the far end. It's silver light arced upward like a curved blade, humming with power.
I barely had time to process any of it before a voice purred behind me:
"Well. You're interesting."
I whipped around. That was when i saw him.
He leaned casually against a broken stone obelisk, shadows bleeding from his skin like ink drifting through water. His hair was black and wild, grin too sharp, almost gleefully unhinged. But his eyes...
Deep violet. Entirely focused on me.
"Hi," I said carefully.
His grin widened. "Hello, Thalia."
I blinked. "How did you know my--?"
He tapped one temple, shadows curling around his fingers. "Shadow demon instincts. WE're good at... recognizing things." His grin sharpened, almost possessive. "Especially people we're meant to stand beside."
"Stand beside you?" I repeated.
He stopped in front of me, shadows brushing my skin like cool silk--but strangely it didn't bother me.
He lifted a hand to his chest and bowed with a mocking flourish. "Silas. Try not to forget it. I don't like repeating myself."
Despite myself, I snorted. "Right. Okay."
Silan straightened, eyes glinting. "I'll stay with you, Thalia."
"That's--um--"
"Nonnegotiable."
He smiled, softer but no less unhinged. He turned slightly, as if expecting someone.
A moment later, Someone arrived.
A startled growl cut through the air, low and commanding. A huge wolf--no, a man mid-shift--stalked forward. Muscles rolled beneath tan skin; grey eyes glowed like storm clouds. He looked like he could tear the world apart with his bare hands.
But when he saw me, something shifted in his eyes--recognition? Instinct?
He approached slowly, scenting the air, gaze locked on mine. "You're her."
"I'm... who?"
"The one we are supposed to find."
Silas snorted. "I found her first."
Grayson ignored him. He straightened fully, the last of the shift pulling back. "My names is Grayson. Alpha of the Crescent Fang."
I nodded. "Thalia."
"Stay close to me," he said simply, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Before i could respond, a ripple of cold, beautiful magic brushed my skin.
Fae magic.
He materialized out of silver mist like the world had conjured him from moonlight. Tall, impossibly graceful, wearing a smirk that could start wars. His hair was silver black, his eyes a violet-blue that seemed to glow.
"Ah," he murmured. "So you're the reason everyone is vibrating like plucked harp strings."
Grayson growled under his breath. Silas's shadows bristled.
Lysander only smiled wider. "Calm yourselves. I'm mearly admiring."
He bowed-dramatically-to me. "Lysander of the Night Court. And you, little star, are trouble."
"I'm not--"
"Oh, you are," he said confidently. "I'll stay with you."
Silas pointed his knife. "You keep that fae sparked away from her."
"Make me," Lysander purred.
Before sparks could fly, a dark presence cut through the space like a blade. He walked with silent precision, black armor etched with bone-like markings. His eyes were a deep, deathly crimson, and there was an aura around him that made the air colder.
A reaper-blooded warrior.
Everyone nearby instinctively stepped back from him. But when he stopped in front of me, something in his expression softened--imperceptibly, but enough.
"You're alone," he said quietly.
"I--well, not anymore, i guess."
He nodded once. "Good."
That was all he said before taking position beside me like a silent guardian.
The crowd partied like it sensed royalty approaching. He glided through the mist, dark hair pulled back, dressed like he'd stepped out of some ancient court. His eyes were silver, sharp enough to cut.
He stopped directly in front of me. Up close, his presence was overwhelming.
"You're Thalia Arclen," he said, voice smooth as velvet.
I blinked. "You know me?"
"I know the feeling of fate rearranging itself," he replied. "It just did."
Silas muttered, "Drama king."
Nikolai didn't spare him a glance. Instead, he held out his hand--not touching, just offering.
"If you'll allow it, I will stand with you."
It wasn't a demand. It was loyalty wrapped in elegance.
I swallowed. "Okay."
His lips curved. "Then we are six."
Around us, other supernatural were arguing, scrambling, forming groups of five.
Five.
But i had five men standing around me. Six of us total.
Silas flicked his knife. "The gate better get over."
Grayson nodded. "We stay together."
Lysander smirked. "Breaking rules is practically a hobby."
Dorian said nothing, but stepped closer.
Nikolai's voice was soft. "Let them try and deny us."
I looked at all of them-- the shadow, the wolf, the fae, the reaper, the vampire-- and somehow it felt right.
My throat tightened.
"Okay," I said quietly. "We're a group."
The silver gate across the realm pulsed... as if it heard me.
As if it were waiting.