The forest was cold that night.
Not the usual, gentle chill of evening — but sharp and alert. Asher followed Lucian through the trees, the moonlight filtering between the branches in pale ribbons. The locket pulsed faintly with every step, as if recognizing the place they were heading toward.
Lucian moved silently, almost gliding. "Stay close," he said without looking back. "The boundary weakens at night."
"Boundary?" Asher echoed.
"You'll understand soon."
They reached a clearing bathed entirely in moonlight — wide, open, and unnervingly quiet. Lucian finally turned to face him, pulling off his gloves with slow precision.
"Asher," he began, crimson eyes glowing faintly, "your blood is changing. You felt it yesterday. The warmth. The pull. The mark responding to the locket."
Asher nodded. His collarbone still tingled where the mark sat like a sleeping ember.
Lucian stepped closer. "Tonight, you will learn how to control that pull before it controls you."
Asher swallowed. "And if I can't?"
Lucian's expression softened just slightly. "Then I won't let it consume you."
Lucian raised his hand.
The air shifted — cold spiraled outward, the wind turning sharp. Shadows coiled at his feet, twisting like smoke.
It was the first time Asher had seen Lucian unleash even a fraction of his power.
"Asher," Lucian said quietly, "reach for the locket."
Asher obeyed, fingers brushing the metal. It grew warm under his touch, heartbeat-like.
But a moment later, the warmth sharpened — too bright, too fast. A rush of energy surged up his arm, flooding his chest.
He gasped, stumbling. "I—I can't—"
Lucian appeared beside him in an instant, steadying him with a hand on his back. "Don't fight it. Direct it."
"How?!"
"Think of it like a thread," Lucian murmured. "A single line of light. Hold it. Guide it."
Asher closed his eyes.
The energy inside him spun wildly, but he focused — on the locket's glow, on the mark's pulse, on Lucian's steady presence beside him.
Slowly… painfully… the chaos began to shape itself.
The warmth gathered in his palm — a soft, violet shimmer forming like a breath of moonlight.
Lucian exhaled quietly. "Good. Very good."
Asher opened his eyes, staring at the faint light hovering above his hand. "I… did that?"
"You did." Lucian stepped back, his gaze unreadable. "And that's only the beginning."
But the moment of triumph didn't last.
The ground beneath them trembled — a ripple through the soil.
Lucian's head snapped toward the north, his expression darkening.
"They're close."
Asher stiffened. "Cassandra's hunters?"
"Or worse," Lucian murmured. "Your awakening has a scent now. They'll follow it."
A cold wind tore through the clearing.
The violet light in Asher's palm flickered — then extinguished.
Lucian took his arm, steady but urgent. "We're done for tonight. Back to the cabin. Now."
Asher's heart pounded as they ran, branches whipping past. The forest seemed alive, whispering, warning.
And somewhere behind them, hidden among the trees, a pair of unfamiliar eyes gleamed — watching.
To be continued....