The carriages rumbled as we approached the Hiiragi Inn, framed by a deep indigo sky; most Astralift nights were like that. The brick street was lit by lanterns dangling from the eaves. As the night breeze blew, the old timbers of the building creaked. Devon’s hand remained over mine, his thumb tracing absent patterns against my skin.

“We’ll speak with her together,” he said.

My stomach was twisting in knots as I nodded. The closer we got to the inn, the harder my heart beat. For once, Mouriana’s silence wasn’t comforting. Honestly, I wanted her to keep talking like she usually did to distract me. It just dawned on me that I hadn’t asked her how she was doing with the core.

As the carriage came to a halt, Marcus opened the door quickly. “The elder is waiting inside, Your Grace,” he informed us. His eyes scanned the surrounding area for anything amiss. “We’ll remain close.”

Devon stepped out first, offering his hand to help me down. In the common room of the inn, the earthy scent of wood smoke blended with the sweet smell of spiced tea. A handful of patrons murmured in quiet conversation, but my focus was immediately drawn to Lady Bernadette. She sat near the hearth, her hands folded neatly over a steaming cup of tea.

“Lady Bernadette,” I greeted her as we approached. I was surprised at how steady my voice was. “Thank you for waiting.”

As she looked up, her lined face softened with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Lord and Lady Irving.” She gestured over to the seat across from her. “Please join me.”

The two of us sat down, and I fought the urge to fidget under her piercing gaze. There’d always been something about her stare that made you feel like you were on trial.

“You’ve heard of the plague affecting the Circle of the Willow,” she began. “I regret that I must add to the burden of your duties, but this is a matter that cannot wait.”

I swallowed hard, forcing myself to hold her gaze. “You believe I can help,” I said, not a question.

“Yes,” she replied, a bit surprised I knew that. “You were always gifted, Celeste. That much was clear before your selection.”

Devon shifted beside me. “And what makes you so certain?” he asked her.

After looking at me for a moment, Lady Bernadette turned back to Devon. “Because Azriel believes it,” she said finally, lowering her voice. “And his insight is beyond his years.” She leaned forward slightly. “He told me you’ve used water magic for healing multiple times. Is that true?”

My chest tightened when I heard Azriel’s name. The words sounded strained, but I forced them out. “Is he’” My voice broke, and I swallowed hard before trying again. “Is he infected?”

“He is among the afflicted,” she said. “That is why I came. Well, partly why.”

It took her a long time to speak again, and when she did, I could hear sadness in her voice. “You see, it appears that all those present at your selection have somehow been afflicted with the magic eater curse. Some—like Zaria and two others from the fire academy—were carriers. Others are simply succumbing faster than we’ve ever seen.”

I felt like my chest was collapsing in on itself. “The selection?” I whispered, my hands gripping the fabric of my gown tightly. “Are you saying this is connected to that day?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted quietly. “But the timing is troubling. The curse spread like wildfire after the selection ceremony. Only water and fire witches are afflicted, and the great oriental houses are working desperately to save as many as we can.”

My breath hitched as Zaria clawed at the surface of my mind. “What about the Circle of the Willow Coven?” I asked.

Her response was slow and heavy. “The Dyaks healers and the best of our healer witches are still with them,” she said. “I know what you’re thinking, Celeste, but you cannot see Zaria until she’s cleansed of spreading the curse. Right now, she and the other carriers have been secluded in the Dyak fortress for their own good.”

“For their own good?” My voice cracked, rising as I leaned forward. “She’s not some—some contagion to be hidden away!”

Lady Bernadette flinched, but she stayed calm. “Carriers usually aren’t infected with curses,” she admitted. “But this curse doesn’t play by the rules we know.”

“The magic eater curse isn’t a curse in the traditional sense,” Devon said as he took my hand. “What are you not telling us?”

She sighed heavily, the sigh fraught with fatigue. “Because this isn’t a typical curse. We thought this kind of magic died out centuries ago. It’s unfortunate that this cult is using oriental magic that has been hidden away and forbidden since our creation.”

“What?” It was barely a whisper, but I managed to say it. “You’re saying this” this dark veil magic is oriental magic?”

Lady Bernadette exhaled again, brushing her fingers against her temple as if the mere thought pained her. “This isn’t a conversation for anyone outside the Oriental Council,” she murmured. Her voice dropped to a near-whisper, so low that I was certain only my heightened senses, courtesy of my Lycan bond, allowed me to catch it. “But the Bloodworth house cannot lose Azriel. Do you understand what I’m saying, Celeste?”

A chill ran down my spine. “I do,” I replied, nodding stiffly.

I could see her reluctance as she stared at me. “Our strongest theory,” she began slowly, “is that the instigator of this cult is a misplaced oriental. But unravelling their identity has been impossible. Every time we get close, the curse shifts, growing darker. And those it claims’” Her composure cracked just a tiny bit as she stopped.

“That makes sense,” I muttered as I thought about it. “It would explain why it targets witches so effectively. But what oriental house could this even come from?”

“They don’t exist,” she whispered quietly, her voice trembling with dread. “That’s what I mean by misplaced. Mind-benders, as irksome as their ability to puppeteer is, were never the biggest problem after Gaia’s creation. It was the other orientals—the ones the remaining houses ganged up on to erase. They wielded true, vile, dark magic that can create something as insidious as this curse.”

Celeste, we need to leave. Now. The sound of Mouriana’s voice cut through my mind.

I swallowed hard, ignoring her urgency and the rare use of my name. Mouriana was prone to dramatics, and I couldn’t let that distract me. Not yet. My focus shifted back to Lady Bernadette. “You’re talking about something buried so deep in Wridel’s history that even the archives don’t mention it,” I said slowly. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because the Bloodworth house doesn’t care about buried history. We care about preserving our bloodline.” Her voice turned icy, and her eyes locked onto mine with a ferocity that sent a chill racing down my spine. “You’re Azriel’s only hope, Celeste. And I may very well cast myself out of the oriental fold revealing this, but it must be done.”

A prickle ran along my skin. Lady Bernadette wasn’t one to speak in absolutes or take risks without thinking them through. Her desperation rang louder than her words.

“We should leave now,” Devon said out of nowhere.

My eyes flickered to him, narrowing in irritation. “Why?” I asked sharply. “We’re finally getting somewhere.”

Lady Bernadette stilled, her head tilting slightly as if she was straining to listen to something far off. Then she rose with startling urgency. “Don’t you sense that?” she asked. “They’re here.”

The knot in my stomach tightened. “Who the hell is they?” I asked, standing to my feet and looking around the inn.

The answer didn’t come from her.

I cannot reach you in time, little witch. Mouriana’s voice boomed in my mind. You will have to handle this alone, drawing on as much of my energy as you can. These orientals are unlike anything you’ve faced before, and Bloodworth unwittingly led them to you. Whatever you do, you and your mate” her voice sharpened, almost frantic” do not let them touch you! You can only defend, and your mate mustn’t touch them!

With my heart pounding, I looked straight at Lady Bernadette. “Who the hell are they?” I asked again. Devon was already on his feet, scanning the inn. Every muscle in his body coiled and ready for a fight.

For the first time since I’ve known her, Lady Bernadette’s face was pale. I could barely hear her whisper, “The Shadow Orientals. The ones who should not exist.”

A sudden low hum struck me like a cold breeze, a sound that felt like it was pressing against my bones just on the boundary of awareness. Devon growled softly, his Lycan instincts sensing what I could not yet see. That unsettled me even more. I should be able to see them.

“Celeste,” he said. “Get behind me.”

It was hard to move, my feet felt rooted to the ground. “No, didn’t you hear her? We can only defend,” I whispered to him, summoning water to my palms in swirling orbs. The room started to darken, the corners of the inn bleeding into shadows that writhed bizarrely, which forced the other patrons to immediately scramble out of the inn.

Lady Bernadette moved closer, her hands trembling as she formed a protective sigil in the air. “They’ve been tracking me,” she admitted with regret. “The moment I stepped foot into Ostonia, they must have followed.”

“Why didn’t you mention that sooner?” Devon snapped, his claws showing as he slowly shifted. He positioned himself between me and the advancing creatures. “Tell me more about these shadow orientals. What are we dealing with?”

As the hum got louder, it evolved into a low, croaky sound. A shadow detached itself from the corner of the room, slithering forward with peculiar fluidity. Its form was humanoid but warped, its limbs too long, its head cocked at an impossible angle.

“Gaia,” I breathed, tightening my grip on the water orbs.

The creature’s eyes—or rather, the absence of them—locked onto me. Its face was smooth, featureless save for a thin, lipless mouth that stretched into a sickening grin. More shadows followed, each one more grotesque than the last, until the room was swarming with them.

“They don’t belong here,” Lady Bernadette murmured. “Their magic is” wrong. It corrodes the magic around them. If they touch you, there’s no saving you. Keep them away at all costs. Their shadows are lethal extensions of themselves—they can kill you and steal your magic. The only way to stop these shadows is to find and kill their true forms, the ones controlling these abominations and if they’re powerful enough, they could be miles away.”

Mouriana’s voice snapped in my mind. Focus, little witch! Their touch will unravel your magic and my core. Keep them from you and your mate!

Devon stepped in front of me, his claws fully extended now, his body half-shifted. “If you’ve got a plan, now’s the time.”

I swallowed hard, raising the orbs higher as they began to glow. “We keep them at bay,” I said. “And find out why they’re here.” My gaze darted to Lady Bernadette. “Can you banish them?”

“There is no banishing shadows, Celeste. We need to find their true form and vanquish them. We can only protect ourselves right now,” she said quickly. She raised her hands, the sigil she’d drawn earlier now glowing, but the moment she activated it, one of the creatures lunged, a tendril of shadow slicing through the air toward her.

Devon moved in a blur, his claws intercepting the tendril with a feral snarl. The contact made the creature screech, a high-pitched, piercing sound that vibrated painfully through the room. My ears throbbed, and blood trickled down my temples from the pressure. Mouriana hissed sharply in my mind, clearly affected as well.

“Stay close!” Devon barked, and his voice cut through the cacophony as he struck again, the tendrils retreated momentarily under his assault. “I’ll try to draw their attacks.”

But his actions only seemed to agitate the shadows further. They coiled and twisted like vipers, poised to strike again. My orbs died out as I covered my ears against the sound, their light dimming before dissipating entirely.

“You cannot!” I gasped. “Devon, if their shadows touch you’”

“They won’t,” he growled, his confidence unshaken. “I’ll keep them off you. Focus, C—il on the veil.”

“Lord Irving, this isn’t a fight you win with strength,” Lady Bernadette called out to him. “We need distance. The shadows cannot breach a reinforced barrier. Celeste, join me. We’ll strengthen the shield and hold them back until they tire.”

I nodded, summoning the remnants of my strength. “I’m with you.”

Side by side, we raised our hands, her sigil and my magic intertwining. A shimmering dome of energy began to form around us, pushing outward in waves of light. The shadows recoiled, their shrieks filling the air as the barrier forced them back.

Mouriana’s voice hummed with approval. Good, little witch. I am a short ways away.

Devon’s growl deepened, the rumble reverberating in his chest like distant thunder. His eyes were vivid and predatory, and they narrowed to slits as he stalked toward me. The flex of his muscles under his shirt gave away the barely restrained power of his near-Lycan form. His jaw tightened, the veins on his neck standing out as he snarled, “This isn’t enough. We cannot wait them out here. We need to find the source.” His voice was guttural, a raw bite of beast to his words. “They’ve left my sentinels in a pile of carcasses outside!”

My breath hitched. My own voice was almost unrecognizable as it escaped in a whisper. “What?”

Marcus, Edward, their faces flashed before my mind, now twisted in a lifeless tableau. A cold shiver raced down my spine as my stomach churned.

Lady Bernadette nodded. “The actual being controlling these shadows must be projecting from somewhere nearby. But these things won’t let us leave the room to find it.”

The shadows pressed harder against the barrier, their grotesque forms writhing as they tested every inch of the shield for weaknesses. My arms trembled, my veins glowing as I willed the water barrier to hold. It was like trying to stem a tsunami with my bare hands. Every pulse from the shadows sent shock waves through my strained muscles.

“How do we find it?” I rasped, sweat beading at my temple, dripping into my eyes.

Lady Bernadette glanced at me. “We need to trace the thread binding these shadows to their source. But it will require complete concentration, undisturbed. I can hold the barrier,” she added, her hands moving as she reinforced her sigil. “But you must reach for the thread.”

Devon shifted, brushing against me. I felt his body heat before I saw the faint tremor in his hand as he reached toward me, his claws retracting with effort. “Can you do it?” he asked.

I opened my mouth to respond, but my words died in my throat as a chill swept over the room. My breath puffed white in the frigid air, and the hair on my arms and neck stood on end. I stepped past Devon instinctively, my feet silent on the stone floor as I rounded him to see what had stolen the air from my lungs.

A woman stood in the middle of the inn now, the writhing shadows curling around her like a grotesque cloak. Her blood-red sentinel suit shimmered unnaturally, its metallic sheen reflecting the dim light like fresh-spilled blood. Her pitch-black hair floated around her as though suspended in water, flowing down past her feet. But it wasn’t her appearance alone that froze me in place—it was her aura. It radiated a suffocating power, dark and ancient, like Mouriana’s but colder, devoid of any familiarity or grace.

“Celeste, what is it?” Lady Bernadette asked urgently, her voice cutting through the rising hum of dread.

My breath hitched, and I forced myself to blink, to move, though my limbs felt sluggish and heavy. “There’s” someone here,” I said, the words tumbling out in a hoarse whisper. My gaze remained locked on the woman as my heartbeat thundered in my ears. “She’s floating. Dressed in red.”

Lady Bernadette frowned, her hands still moving to maintain the barrier. “I don’t see anyone,” she said, glancing around.

The woman’s eyes—two orbs of searing crimson—snapped to mine, and a cold wave of nausea rolled over me. Her lips twisted into a slow, predatory smile, revealing teeth too sharp, too perfect. My ears rang with a disturbingly musical laugh, but her mouth didn’t move. It was like the sound came from within me.

Celeste Le Torneau! Mouriana’s voice thundered in my mind, sharper and more commanding than I’d ever heard. You need to run!