The first truth surfaced at dawn.
Not as a revelation spoken aloud, but as a collective unease that settled over the supernatural world like fog. Wolves woke from restless sleep with the same sensation in their chests. Not hunger. Not rage.
Recognition.
Something old was awake.
In the sanctuary, Valentine did not sleep. She sat cross legged on the cool stone floor as the sigils around her shifted slowly, their light no longer reactive but responsive. They no longer pulsed at her presence. They waited.
Eryx stood near the far wall, unusually tense.
“You did not answer my question,” Valentine said quietly.
He turned toward her. “Because once I do, there is no pretending the world can go back.”
She rose to her feet. “It already cannot.”
The stone beneath her bare feet warmed, acknowl
