I slowly pushed myself upright… and then I saw it.
On the table, the black ring—dark as night itself—with the white symbol embedded at its center.
In that moment, I knew everything I had lived through had not been a dream.
I sighed in exhaustion. I didn't have time to dwell on it.I needed to get ready.
The first thing I did was step into the shower.
I took off my clothes and let the hot water fall over my body. Steam immediately filled the space, wrapping around me as if it wanted to isolate me from the world. Each drop slid slowly over my skin—down my back, my chest, my thighs—carrying away tension I still didn't know how to name.
The heat was comforting. Too comforting.
For the first time since the previous night, I felt my body finally begin to loosen… as if it had been holding itself together all that time.
I closed my eyes.
I turned on my favorite music, low, just for me. I needed something normal. Something to remind me who I was before Nyx, before the studio, before the contract.
Then I heard soft knocks on the bathroom door.
I tensed instantly.
"Hey," a male voice said from the other side. "I'll leave your clothes here. If you need me, I'll be with your grandmother."
My heart jumped.
Iztli.
The steam wasn't enough to hide the blush that rushed to my face. He was right outside… and I wasn't wearing anything at all. All the calm I'd managed to gather evaporated in seconds.
"O-okay… but don't come in," I replied quickly, trying to sound firm.
There was a brief pause.
"Relax," he replied with a low laugh. "I'm not planning to."
Then he added, as if it were the most natural thing in the world:
"Besides… it's nothing I haven't seen before."
I froze.
"Iztli!" I protested, pressing a hand against the wall.
"Breathe," he said calmly. "I'm just saying you don't need to worry."
I heard him place the clothes by the door… but he didn't leave immediately.
"And in case you're wondering," he added, "you look good even when you're nervous."
My heart began to race far too fast.
"How do you know I'm nervous?" I asked, annoyed… and something else I didn't want to admit.
"Because you have been since you woke up," he answered without hesitation. "It shows in your breathing."
I frowned.
"That's impossible."
"Not for me."
Silence.
Then I heard his footsteps moving away.
"Don't take too long," he said before leaving. "Your grandmother doesn't like waiting."
I stood under the hot water, completely red.
"Nothing I haven't seen before…" I muttered irritably.
That bothered me more than it should have.
I glanced at myself, watching my body through the steam. I didn't think it looked bad. I had good proportions, real curves, marks of exhaustion I didn't know whether to hate or accept.
I shook my head hard.
"Why do I even care about this?" I scolded myself.
We had barely met the night before. It made no sense…and yet, his presence still lingered, as if he hadn't fully left the bathroom with me.
I left the bathroom and got dressed in the clothes they'd left me. Nothing spectacular: a plain T-shirt with a discreet symbol from a well-known brand, nice typography, comfortable. I fixed myself up a bit and left the room.
As I went down the stairs toward the dining area, I walked into a scene that made me freeze.
My grandmother was sitting at the table.Beside her, a woman I didn't know.And lounging calmly near the sofa, a black jaguar with yellow markings, licking one of its paws.
It was too much.
I was still processing everything from the day before, and this didn't help at all.
"Itzel, we need to talk," my grandmother said.
She only used my full name when she was angry… or when the matter was serious. Her voice carried a bit of both.
I walked slowly and sat across from them. My stomach was knotted, the same way it used to be when I was a child and knew something important was about to happen.
"First… I want to apologize," my grandmother said. "I never wanted to drag you into this world. You shouldn't have ended up here."
"It was inevitable," the unfamiliar woman interjected. "She was the only one."
I looked at her carefully. She seemed to be just over thirty, but there was something about her… something ancient. She looked strong, like someone who had lived far longer than she appeared.
"I know," my grandmother replied sadly. "But after what happened to her mother… after everything… I didn't want to burden her with this too."
The woman nodded, then looked straight into my eyes and extended her hand.
"Hello. My name is Lori. I'm your grandmother's best friend… and Iztli's mother."
I shook her hand. At the touch, I felt something strange: it was cold, like ice, but at the same time soft, almost velvety. A completely contradictory sensation.
"Nice to meet you," I said. "I'm Izel. And… sorry about your son."
I remembered how he had ended up unconscious the night before while trying to protect me.
"Don't worry," Lori replied with a smile. "It's not your fault. It's my son's fault for being useless."
An indignant growl sounded from the back. The jaguar lifted its head, clearly offended.
Lori laughed softly.
"Despite everything," she continued, "it seems you received some good rewards last night, didn't you?"
Her eyes settled on my hand.
The ring.
Instinctively, I hid it behind me.
"Relax," she said gently. "I'm not going to take it from you. It's just… not time to explain everything yet. But we can answer some of your questions. Like, for example, why you have a guardian."
I nodded silently.
"This should be explained by your grandmother," she continued, "but I can see it's hard for her. So I'll start."
Lori took a breath.
"For centuries, humans have sought power. To obtain it, they made pacts with different beings, creating new lines of existence. One example is the nahuales. In the past, they were humans who bonded with a beast. Today… that's no longer the case. We are a species born with the nature of an animal."
She gestured toward the jaguar.
"Our branch is linked to the jaguar—at least my husband's line is. Mine is different, but that doesn't matter right now."
I interrupted her.
"So… you're not human anymore?"
"We are," she replied, "but not one hundred percent. Think of us as a subspecies. Humans… but different."
"Your family isn't that different either," she added.
I widened my eyes and looked at my grandmother.
"Not exactly like them," she said. "We are fully human, but with more awakened parts. The idea that I was just a shaman… was only half the truth."
She pulled out a thick book, filled with intricate symbols. When I saw it, I couldn't help thinking of the door I had always been forbidden to open.
"We're more like witches," she continued. "Generations ago, one of our ancestors made a pact. He obtained knowledge, power… and his children inherited part of it without needing to repeat the pact. With each generation, the power concentrated."
She fell silent for a moment.
"Your mother inherited it too. But she chose never to get involved in this world. And I respected that… and believed it would be the same with you."
I stood up, exasperated.
"How were you supposed to know? No one explained anything to me! You didn't even warn me! You sent Iztli without telling me anything, and I ended up signing a contract with a god!"
"I always tried to protect you," she replied calmly. "I sensed something… that's why I sent him. I didn't think you'd sign."
I glared at Iztli irritably. He ignored me completely and continued licking his paws. Gossiping cat.
"But I did it for you," I said. "We needed the money."
My grandmother sighed, deeply saddened.
"I know. Show us the contract."
I shook my head.
"I don't have it."
"It doesn't matter," she replied. "These contracts are made with the soul. They always return to you."
I closed my eyes, remembered the paper in flames… and felt heat before me. When I opened them, the contract was forming on the table, wrapped in green fire until it extinguished itself.
My grandmother took it calmly and began to read.
"It's not unfair," she said finally. "Your life isn't in direct danger… though there are dangerous legal loopholes. Even so, it doesn't seem like he wants to harm you."
"When do you go back to work?" Lori asked.
"Today," I replied. "I have a daily segment."
Lori thought for a moment.
"There's no time to teach you everything now. We'll explain things little by little."
Later, between food and conversation, I learned many things. I found out that Lori had once been my grandmother's guardian… and that, through a strange correlation, her son had ended up being mine.
They didn't explain the door. Not yet.
They told me about other beings, about how gods weren't the only ones—or the most dangerous ones, about how being forgotten weakened them… and about how what they were doing could change everything.
Before I left, they gave me a bracelet. It worked the same way as the ring: it would break if my life was in danger.
As I walked toward the second interview, tired and nervous, I bought a coffee… and a small knife. I knew it wouldn't help much, but it made me feel safer.
I was wearing the same clothes from the show. The comments were still positive. No one believed it was real.
And that… was the most terrifying part.
When I reached the building I had sworn never to step into again, I took a step inside.
He was there.
"Welcome," he said. "I knew you would come back."