CHAPTER NINE
For several minutes, May and Zara stand frozen in the middle of the crowded road — bodies brushing past them, trotro mates shouting destinations, market women yelling over each other. Life moves normally around them.
But May feels anything but normal.
Her heart is still pulsing with Nathel's echo, and the creature's shadow lingers at the edge of her mind like a hand she can't shake off.
Zara is pale. "May… where are we going now?"
May looks around. "Somewhere safe."
"Safe doesn't exist anymore!" Zara snaps, voice cracking. "Something climbed out of my mirror, May. MIRRORS! What am I supposed to do, break every one in Ghana?!"
May grips her friend's arms. "Listen. We just need time. Nathel is trying to come back."
Zara blinks, breathing unevenly. "Nathel… the guy you loved? The one who disappeared?"
May nods.
"And now he's talking to you through… your heartbeat?"
May hesitates. "It's more complicated than that."
Zara lets out a humorless laugh. "You think?"
Before May can answer, a pulse of cold rushes down her spine — not Nathel's warmth, not the creature's hunger.
Something else.
Something sharper.
Something… aware.
May stiffens.
Zara sees it. "What? What now?"
May swallows hard. "Someone is watching us."
Zara spins around. "Where?!"
May doesn't point. She doesn't want to draw attention.
But she saw him.
A man leaning against a kiosk across the street.
Tall.
Neatly dressed.
Too still.
Too focused.
His eyes meet hers.
Black.
Empty.
But intelligent.
Zara whispers, "Is that the thing? From the mirror?"
May shakes her head. "No. That one isn't hiding. And it's… human."
Nathel's voice hits her chest so suddenly she winces.
"May… listen to me carefully."
She stiffens. "Nathel?"
Zara grabs her hand. "He's talking again?"
May nods.
Nathel's voice is strained — like he's speaking through a storm.
"Do not approach the man watching you.
And do not let him come closer.
He is not ordinary."
May's pulse skitters. "Who is he?"
A long, tense pause.
Then:
"Kelron's eyes."
May feels her throat close.
Kelron.
The name feels heavy, as if her bones remember it.
Nathel continues:
"He serves the one who forced our bond into sleep.
He can sense when you awaken it."
May's breath shakes. "Nathel… did he follow me?"
"No."
Nathel's voice hardens.
"He was searching for you. And now he's found you."
Zara squeezes May's fingers so tight they hurt. "Okay, May. Please. Tell me what's happening."
But May can barely hear her.
Because the man across the street begins walking toward them.
Slow.
Unhurried.
Confident.
Like he knows she won't escape.
Nathel's voice lashes into her chest:
"MOVE. NOW."
May grabs Zara's wrist. "Run!"
They bolt into the nearest crowd — weaving between children, women carrying bowls on their heads, drivers yelling insults. They don't look back.
May's heartbeat vibrates with Nathel's urgency.
"Don't let him touch you."
They turn down a market lane.
Zara stumbles on a stone. May pulls her up.
"May," Zara gasps, "who is that man?"
"He's connected to the thing from your mirror," May says breathlessly. "He works for someone ancient. Someone who wants me."
"Why YOU?!"
May stops running for a moment.
Because she doesn't have an answer.
Because Nathel does not answer.
Because something deep inside her whispers—
Because you're the only one who survived it.
Before she can think more—
A hand grabs her shoulder.
May shrieks and spins—
—but it's an older woman selling oranges, not the man.
"Ei! My daughter, why are you running like someone is chasing you?" the woman snaps.
"Sorry!" May gasps, dragging Zara away.
But the moment she turns—
She sees him.
The man in the distance.
Watching her.
No rush.
No panic.
Just following.
Predator-slow.
Nathel's voice hammers into her:
"He won't stop until he marks you.
Don't let him touch your skin.
Not even for a second."
May's voice trembles. "Nathel… what will happen if he does?"
This time, Nathel's answer is immediate.
"You'll forget me."
Her heart drops.
"And you'll forget everything you've awakened."
May's knees nearly buckle.
Zara grabs her arm. "May—what did he say?!"
May's voice is barely a breath.
"If he touches me… I'll lose everything."
Nathel's voice softens just slightly.
A plea beneath the warning.
"May… I'm fighting to come back to you.
Don't let them erase me again."
May sucks in a sharp breath.
Her vision sharpens.
Her pulse steadies.
Fear shifts into something else.
Determination.
She turns to Zara.
"We're not running anymore."
Zara freezes. "May—are you crazy?! That man is—"
"We're not running," May repeats.
She squares her shoulders, eyes locked on the man who should not remember her — but does.
"He wants me alive. That means I can bargain."
Zara stares at her like she's lost her mind.
The man steps closer.
May steps forward.
Her chest burns with the bond.
Nathel's voice trembles through her:
"May… don't do this."
But she whispers back:
"Watch me."
And moves toward the man who shouldn't know her name — but smiles like he's waited centuries to find her again.