I didn't scream.
I couldn't.
The idea sat in my chest like a loaded gun—heavy, real, impossible to ignore.
"I didn't mean to," I whispered. "I didn't even know him."
Santiago's face softened, but his posture stayed tense, like he was ready to move at any second.
"That doesn't matter," he said. "Intent doesn't always decide consequences."
I wrapped my arms around myself. "Then why me?"
He didn't answer.
That scared me more than the truth.
"You're not safe here anymore," Santiago said an hour later, standing by the door. "We have to leave."
"Leave where?"
"Somewhere warded."
"Ruth—"
"She's already in danger just by knowing you."
The words felt like knives.
"You don't get to decide that," I snapped.
A sharp knock cut through the argument.
Three short taps.
Santiago froze.
"Don't move," he mouthed.
The knocking came again—slow, deliberate.
I crept toward the door despite him shaking his head.
"Eliza," a familiar voice called. "It's me."
Dr. Fausto.
My stomach dropped.
"I just want to talk."
Santiago swore under his breath.
"You know him?" I whispered.
"Too well."
The door burst open.
The world tilted.
Dr. Fausto stepped inside without permission, his presence pressing down on the room like gravity.
"You're difficult to protect," he said calmly, eyes locking on me. "You always were."
"What are you talking about?" I demanded.
Santiago moved in front of me. "Leave."
Fausto smiled.
"Oh, Santiago. Still playing guardian angel?"
His gaze flicked to me. "Do you know how many people have died dreaming your dreams, Eliza?"
My vision blurred. "Stop."
"You're a conduit," he continued. "A bridge between worlds. When you hunt in your sleep, reality follows."
"Enough," Santiago growled.
Fausto sighed. "You should've brought her sooner."
The air snapped.
Pain tore through my skull as something invisible yanked me forward. Santiago grabbed me, but the force was stronger.
I screamed—
And fell.
I woke in a white room.
No windows. No doors.
Just mirrors.
My reflection stared back at me—eyes glowing faintly gold.
Fausto's voice echoed from nowhere. "Welcome to your inheritance."
I slammed my fists against the glass. "Let me out!"
"You can't run from what you are."
Images flooded the mirrors.
A woman with my face, older, blood-soaked.
A child screaming in her sleep.
A man being torn apart by shadows.
"You're not human," Fausto said softly. "Not fully."
My knees buckled.
"You're a Hunter."
The word burned.
"You cross into the Veil when you dream. You kill what doesn't belong in this world."
"I kill people," I whispered.
"No," he corrected. "You kill monsters wearing human skin."
Eric's face flashed in my mind.
Normal. Smiling.
Fausto's voice dropped. "Sometimes the disguise fools even you."
The mirrors shattered.
I gasped awake on the apartment floor.
Santiago was kneeling beside me, blood on his mouth.
"You fought him," I croaked.
"I almost lost," he said quietly.
Sirens wailed in the distance.
Fausto was gone.
"So what now?" I asked.
Santiago met my eyes. "Now you stop running."