The moon had dipped behind thick clouds, leaving the citadel in near-darkness, when Adeline awoke with a start. Her pulse still carried the rhythm of the mark's awakening from the night before.
She had hoped for clarity, for a moment of rest, but the silence of her chamber felt wrong—too heavy, too alive.
A shadow moved across the wall, subtle but deliberate. Her stomach tightened.
Not a dream, she realized. The same feeling from the forbidden hallways returned: watching.
Footsteps approached—slow, careful, purposeful.
Adeline clutched the edge of her bed, heart pounding. The footsteps stopped at her door.
"Adeline."
Lucien's voice. Calm, commanding, like the night itself speaking through him.
She exhaled, tension easing slightly. "Lucien?"
He stepped inside without knocking, the dim torchlight catching the sharp lines of his face. "You felt it, didn't you?"
"Felt what?" she asked, though she already knew.
"The threat," he said, eyes scanning the room as if shadows themselves might betray him. "The citadel is not as safe as it appears. Someone—or something—moves unseen."
Adeline's pulse quickened. "How… how do you know?"
"Because it has moved closer," he replied. "And the mark reacted."
The silver glow on her wrist pulsed faintly, almost imperceptibly, but enough to confirm his words.
Adeline swallowed. "What do we do?"
Lucien's gaze softened slightly, though the warning never left his eyes. "First, you learn to trust what you cannot see. The shadows here are not mere absence—they are alive, and they hunger for what you carry."
"What if I can't control it?" she asked, fear and frustration mingling in her voice. "What if it destroys me?"
He stepped closer, deliberately, letting the warmth of his presence anchor her. "You will not be destroyed," he said firmly. "Not while I stand with you."
She looked up at him, her heart betraying her with a flutter she refused to name. His dominance was clear—not forceful, but unwavering. Protective. Absolute.
A sudden noise interrupted the fragile peace—a soft thud from the corridor outside. Lucien's body stiffened, every muscle coiled, ready to spring.
"Stay behind me," he ordered.
Adeline obeyed instinctively, hiding behind his broad frame as he moved toward the door.
The hallway beyond was dark, empty… except for the faint shimmer of movement. Something elongated, slithering along the walls, barely visible. The air grew colder, tighter.
"It's here," Lucien whispered. "The shadows have come for you."
Adeline felt a pull in her chest, the mark reacting violently now. Power surged beneath her skin, sharp and dangerous. She trembled, fear mingling with a strange exhilaration.
Lucien placed a hand lightly on her wrist, and the pulse steadied. "Control comes with focus," he said. "Feel it, but do not fight it."
The shadow lunged—a dark, writhing figure, eyes glowing faint red, teeth bared. Lucien moved with precise grace, intercepting it. The contact made the walls shudder, faintly, as though the citadel itself was aware of the struggle.
Adeline watched, both horrified and fascinated, as Lucien fought effortlessly, his movements fluid, almost like a dance of shadows and steel. Every strike he delivered was calculated, every step decisive.
And yet… he never harmed her.
When the creature finally recoiled and vanished into the darkness, the hall fell silent once more.
Lucien turned to her, face shadowed but his gaze steady. "The first test is always the hardest. And this was just a glimpse of what's coming."
Adeline's breath came in ragged gasps. "I… I saw it. The shadows… they were alive."
"Yes," he said quietly. "And they will follow you, Adeline, until you understand what you are—and who you are bound to."
She looked down at the mark, glowing softly now, pulsing like a heartbeat in rhythm with hers.
"And me?" she whispered. "Do they follow you too?"
Lucien's lips curved in the faintest, unreadable smile. "Only because I chose to stand in your path."
The weight of his words, the intensity of his presence, and the power of the mark pressed on her chest. For the first time, Adeline understood: her life had irrevocably changed.
And the shadows? They had only begun to hunt.