The stars hadn't moved, but the night felt different.
Alex lay on the grass, shoulder-to-shoulder with Liam, the memory of the kiss still electric on his lips. His heart was beating faster than it should have, like it didn't quite know whether it was afraid or alive. Beside him, Liam stared at the sky with unreadable eyes, the rise and fall of his chest just barely brushing against Alex's arm.
Neither of them spoke for a long time.
Then Liam's voice broke the silence.
"Do you feel it?" he asked softly.
Alex turned his head, searching Liam's face. "Feel what?"
"That the world's already begun to tilt. Like we're past the edge and just haven't realized it."
Alex exhaled slowly. "Yeah. I feel it."
They sat up together, the chill of the night brushing through the fabric of their clothes. Somewhere beyond the trees, the wind had picked up again. But it wasn't natural wind—it was thin, like it had traveled through something wrong to get here. It carried the faintest scent of smoke and rot.
Harper appeared at the top of the hill, silhouetted against the moonlight. "We've got movement," she said without preamble. "Lights in the trees. Not torches—something else."
Liam was already on his feet. "Wards still holding?"
"For now. But they're twitchy. Like something's testing them."
Alex stood, brushing off his hands. "More Hollowborn?"
"Maybe," Harper said. "But this feels worse."
They returned to the ring of standing stones they'd claimed for shelter. Each stone was carved with different ancient sigils—some from books, some from dreams, and one from Alex's memory, the pattern having appeared in his mind during the kiss like an afterimage burned onto his thoughts.
The stones pulsed faintly now, as if they too were aware something was coming.
Liam knelt to check the runes, his hands steady but his shoulders tight. "We might need to reinforce these. They're not meant to withstand what's on the other side of him."
Alex flinched at the phrasing. "Of me. You mean me."
Liam looked up, gaze softening. "I mean what's trying to come through you. There's a difference."
Harper looked between them. "Not to whoever's watching."
The words sent a chill down Alex's spine. He glanced toward the woods. Shapes were moving again. Not solid—distortions. Heat ripples in the dark. He could hear them whispering just beyond the veil of perception. Their voices like dry leaves dragging across stone.
"I think we need to leave," Alex said. "Now."
"We leave," Harper said, "we lose the circle. This place is old. Protected. Whatever you are, it's helping you here."
"I don't think it's helping me," Alex muttered. "I think it's helping what's inside me."
Liam didn't argue. "We can't stay either. The moment the circle fails, they'll be on us."
"We need a door," Harper said suddenly. "Didn't the books say the Veilborn could move between places? Portals or whatever?"
Alex shook his head. "That's not how it works. I don't know how it works. I don't even know what triggers it."
"You opened a door in your sleep," Liam said. "Maybe you need to do it awake."
Alex stared at him. "And what if I open the wrong door?"
Liam stood, crossing to him. "Then we go through it together."
Alex swallowed hard. His fingers curled into fists. "Okay. I'll try."
He stepped into the center of the stone circle. The earth beneath his feet buzzed. The wind fell silent. The stars dimmed.
He closed his eyes.
He focused on the humming in his blood, the strange rhythm that had been with him ever since the Vampire King's court. The king had said he was a mistake. A fracture. But right now, Alex didn't feel broken—he felt wound tight. Ready to burst.
He reached inward.
And something answered.
The ground cracked beneath his feet. Light poured from the fractures—violet, white, silver. The air bent. The circle of stones flared, then lifted from the ground entirely, floating midair like marionettes on invisible strings.
"Alex!" Harper shouted. "Are you okay?"
His mouth opened, but another voice spoke through it.
"Threshold."
The light exploded outward, and suddenly the forest was gone.
They landed hard on stone.
Alex hit first, rolling into a column. The air smelled of copper and salt. Not the forest. Not the earth. Somewhere else entirely.
Harper groaned. "Where the hell are we?"
Liam pulled himself to his feet. "Not Earth. Not… this layer of it."
They were standing in a vast hall. The walls curved up into a dome, the ceiling painted with constellations that moved and blinked like eyes. Pillars shaped like screaming figures lined the space, and the air hummed with power.
Alex staggered up. His skin still buzzed. His teeth ached. His blood was hot.
Liam touched his shoulder. "You did it."
"I didn't mean to."
"You still did."
Before they could process it, the shadows moved.
From the walls emerged figures—thin, androgynous beings wrapped in robes of shifting color. Their faces were veiled, but their voices were clear.
"You enter the Sanctum Unbidden."
Alex stepped forward. "I didn't know how else to run."
"There is no running here," one said. "Only revelation."
Another stepped closer. "You are the Veilborn. You are the Door. And the Door must be decided."
Alex bristled. "Decided how?"
A sound like distant thunder rolled through the chamber. The robed figures stepped aside.
And from the far end of the hall, a mirror descended from the ceiling.
It was massive. Black-framed. The glass shimmered like water.
Alex took a breath. "I've seen this before."
"In dream," said one of the figures. "This is the reflection that awaits all of your kind."
"What do I do?" Alex asked.
"Step through. And choose."
Liam grabbed his arm. "You don't have to."
"Yes," one of the beings said. "He does."
Alex turned to Liam. "You said you'd go with me."
Liam didn't hesitate. "Then I'm going."
Harper sighed. "Guess I am too. Stupid found family instincts."
The mirror rippled.
Alex stepped through.
They weren't in the Sanctum anymore.
They stood in a version of the forest—but wrong. The trees were upside-down, their roots in the sky. Rivers ran backward. Stars bled in the sky.
Alex turned—and saw himself.
Not in a reflection. Standing there. Dressed in white. Eyes black. Smiling.
The Other Alex stepped forward. "You made it."
Alex flinched. "What are you?"
"I'm what you become if you open the wrong door."
Liam and Harper drew weapons, but the Other Alex ignored them.
"You're not ready to hold what's inside you," he said. "Not yet. But the Hollowborn are. They'll take it. Twist it. Use it."
"What do I do?" Alex asked, voice cracking.
"Choose. Let it consume you. Or bind it."
"How?"
The Other Alex stepped back, revealing a circle on the ground. Sigils swirled around a black flame.
"Sacrifice," he said. "Not blood. Not pain. Control. The thing inside you doesn't want to be caged. You have to cage it anyway."
Alex stepped into the circle. The flame rose, hungry.
And he let it in.
Fire licked his skin—but didn't burn. It crawled into his chest, into his veins, into his eyes.
Alex screamed—
And didn't stop.
Until it was over.
He stood.
Not changed. Not consumed.
Bound.
The fire was his now.
When he opened his eyes, they glowed violet.
The Other Alex was gone.
Liam stared at him like he didn't recognize him.
But then he smiled.
"You're still you," he said.
Alex nodded. "For now."
The mirror reappeared behind them.
They stepped through—
And woke back in the stone circle.
The forest returned.
The Hollowborn were gone.
But something worse was coming.
Because now the Door wasn't locked.
It was watching.
And it was waiting.