They turned, and the tall, thin creature stepped out of the trees.
Grace gasped.
Sophie grabbed Jude's arm.
It didn't move toward them. It only watched.
But then, behind it, another figure stepped out.
And then another.
They were identical.
Three.
Watching.
Waiting.
Sophie whispered, "We're running out of time."
And the gate pulsed with light, louder than before.
Jude couldn't sleep that night. Even with Sophie curled into his chest, her breath soft against his collarbone, his mind wandered endlessly. The memory of those creatures, tall, thin, featureless, lingered like a fever in his blood. He kept seeing them behind his eyelids when he blinked. Three of them now. Three watchers? Sentinels? He didn't know what to call them, only that they had not attacked, had not spoken. Just stood there, watching with empty, unblinking stares. And the gate had responded. Not to them. But to the shard in his hand. Like it was waiting for something else. Something deeper.
