I woke to chaos. The shadow that had lunged at me from the Door was inches from my face, dark and fluid, tendrils of night curling like living smoke. It hissed, low and hungry, whispering voices I couldn’t place, not Jesse, not mine, not any sound I had heard before. It wasn’t just energy, it was intent. Malice.
My palms flared with magic instinctively. Threads of silver shot out, striking the shadow, wrapping around it, burning, cutting, binding. It shrieked, a soundless, vibrating scream that made the walls of the Door shake. My knees hit the cold floor, fingers clawing at the stone, forcing the threads tighter, harder.
“You will not take me.” I spat, voice echoing through the chamber. “Not my power. Not my life.”
The shadow recoiled, but it wasn’t defeated. It surged back, faster thi
