Aveline turned instinctively toward Kael, ready to demand help, only to find him covering his face with both hands as though he could not bear to witness what was unfolding.

Her temper flared.

Yesterday she had been ready to leave, yet this old man had asked her to stay, insisting she needed protection. And now this was what he called protection?

She looked back at the advancing shadows, her gaze sharpening, but she did not feel fear. Not really. It was obvious enough that the old man was controlling them, and for reasons she could not quite explain, she knew he would not actually hurt her.

What irritated her more was the absence at her feet.

Her shadow was gone.

She had never cared much about her shadow before. It had never given her anything, had never taken anything, had simply followed along like a quiet companion. But now that it had vanished, she realized she disliked the emptiness it left behind.

Worse still, there was something near that birch tree she needed to deal with, and she did not have the patience for games.

"Is this how you treat your guests?" she asked, her voice sharpening as her irritation rose.

Kael lowered his hands at last, looking at her with an expression twisted between fear and helplessness.

"Are you really that helpless against your father?" Aveline asked, frustration lacing every word. "Should I nudge you into doing the right thing?"

At that, Kael instinctively reached for the column beside him, his body tensing as he remembered the strange force that had dragged him through his shadow, back in the forest.

But Aveline did not stop.

The next instant, Kael was dragged across the width of the corridor and thrown straight into the fountain with a loud splash.

"How dare you!"

Edric’s furious voice rang out, making Aveline turn at once.

Of course, he had seen it. He had seen her use his own shadow to drag Kael, and from the look on his face, he had expected that.

Edric had assumed Kael and Aveline were involved romantically, that this was the reason his son had brought her into the mansion in the first place and lied so fiercely on her behalf.

But the scene before him told him something else entirely.

This did not look like a woman interested in his son.

Edric’s expression hardened.

Now, he knew better than to hold back.

The shadows closed in on Aveline, still tethered to the ground by the spell that had stolen her own. With her shadow gone, the dark figures surged forward with eerie precision, their hollow mouths opening wide as if to swallow her whole. Their edges sharpened as they approached, twisting into blades, spears, and jagged forms with pointed tips that gleamed in the dim corridor, each one rushing toward her with merciless intent.

This time, Aveline did worry.

Whatever this old man had meant before, he was no longer pretending. He was attacking her.

Still, even in the middle of that rising fear, her gaze kept drifting toward the birch tree. The sense of something wrong there only deepened, the ugly distortion pressing heavier against her instincts. It unsettled her more than the blades of shadow.

She wanted to run.

But she knew she could not move far without her shadow. She was not especially clever, but she was clever enough to know that.

One of the figures lunged. Its sharpened edge grazed her cheek, and a few strands of her hair were sliced cleanly away, fluttering to the ground.

Aveline’s breath caught.

This was serious.

"Hamilton, get into my pocket," she said at once.

She had no idea what she was about to do, but she would not let Hamilton be caught in the middle of it. Even if she failed, she would not drag him into the danger with her.

Then she bent her knees slightly and lifted her head, staring straight at Edric. He was still pressing his palm to the ground, controlling the shadows with ruthless focus.

Cornered, furious, and running purely on instinct, Aveline made her own decision.

She slammed her hand against the stone. He was doing the same, so her doing the same probably would work.

"Give my shadow back, old man!" she shouted.

The ground answered.

A low tremor rolled beneath her palm, and a faint glow flared into view, some kind of magic circle, half-seen and rapidly breaking apart. The circle beneath her shattered, as if rejecting the one it tried to bind.

The stone cracked open in a violent line that shot forward like a living thing, racing across the corridor until it reached Edric.

He jerked his hand back... but it was too late. Blood welled where the force had torn into him.

Aveline kept her hand pressed to the ground, her breathing hard, her anger burning hotter than fear.

The crack spread farther. Farther still.

It sliced through the stone and raced toward the birch tree, the place where she had felt that ugly distortion lurking in the dark. The moment the crack reached the birch tree—something in the air twisted.

Then, all at once, two men dropped down from above and landed on their knees.

Aveline’s lips curved into a faint smirk at the sight of the two men. Kael saw them too, and so did Edric.

But before any of them could fully recover, before anyone could brace for what came next, the two men—still on their knees—pressed a wooden token into their palms.

The moment they did, a thick burst of fire erupted outward.

Not a spark. Not a flicker.

Raging, violent flame surged across the corridor, roaring toward them with terrifying force.

Aveline saw Edric draw a rune through the air, and the fire slammed against an invisible barrier, breaking around him in a furious wave. Kael reacted at once as well, shielding himself from the blast.

And Aveline...

What could she possibly do against fire?

She had no idea.

Hamilton sprang out of her pocket and darted in front of her, puffing up his tiny body as if sheer determination might be enough to stop the blaze. He opened his mouth, ready to challenge the fire himself, absurdly brave in the face of something so much larger than he was.

Aveline’s heart lurched.

Hamilton could never block that. Not that fire, not that terrible wall of heat and light rushing toward them.

Her eyes widened, the flames reflecting sharply in their depths as the blaze came for her.

And all she could think of at that moment was... Theron