Chapter 32
[Late Afternoon]
Lyra couldn’t stay inside anymore.
The walls felt closer than they should have, the quiet pressing in on her thoughts until every sound felt too loud, every pause too long.
Rogan had gone somewhere an hour ago and hadn’t come back yet.
She grabbed her jacket and slipped outside.
[Outside]
The air was cool, sharp enough to clear her head as she walked down the street, letting her steps slow, her breathing steady.
She didn’t go far, just around the block and enough to feel like the world still existed beyond questions no one would answer.
At first, everything felt normal, cars passed, someone laughed somewhere nearby and a dog barked in the distance.
Then the feeling came and Lyra slowed.
It felt like the moment before someone says your name, not the sound, but the certainty that it’s coming.
Her shoulders tightened instinctively as she kept walking, telling herself not to turn around, not to give in to nerves.
She reached the corner and stopped.
The street behind her stretched empty at first glance, too empty.
Lyra’s pulse picked up. She turned slowly, scanning the sidewalk, the parked cars, the shadows pooling beneath the trees.
Nothing moved still, the sensation didn’t fade.
She swallowed and started back the way she had come. She could hear her own breathing now, the soft scuff of her boots against the pavement.
Then, she felt a shift. It was so faint she might have missed it if she hadn’t already been tense.
Lyra stopped again and this time, she felt it clearly.
Someone was there, not close enough to touch but not far enough to ignore.
Her chest tightened and every instinct she had urged her to run but something colder, steadier kept her moving forward instead.
She didn’t look back again, she didn’t speed up, she just walked.
When she reached the building and slipped inside, the door closing behind her with a soft click, the feeling lingered for several long seconds.
Then, slowly, it receded.
Lyra leaned back against the wall, heart pounding.
“I am just imagining things,” she whispered.
But the words didn’t convince her.
From across the street, the man lowered his gaze.
He stood half-hidden in the shadow of a narrow alley, long coat blending seamlessly into the darkening light.
His presence was subtle by design, trained, practiced and patient.
“She feels it,” he murmured into the device concealed at his collar.
“Yes,” he continued softly. “The disturbance wasn’t false p>
His eyes remained fixed on the building Lyra had entered.
“She doesn’t know what she is,” he said. “But she knows she is being seen p>
A smile curved his lips—slow and cold.
“Begin the watch,” he was instructed.
The man inclined his head slightly.
“As you wish,” he replied. “We will keep an eye on her p>
He stepped back into the shadows, vanishing as if he had never been there.
And somewhere far deeper, something ancient and patient turned its attention fully toward Lyra Hale.
The hunt had begun.
[Seraphina’s Place]
The house was too quiet.
Lyra sat on the edge of the bed Seraphina had given her, her phone dark in her hands.
Outside the window, the streetlights cast long shadows across the road, stretching and thinning every time a car passed.
She hadn’t slept again.
She stood and crossed the room, stopping by the window, pressing her forehead lightly against the cool glass. Two days, two days of waiting, resting, being watched like she might break if she moved wrong.
It felt suffocating.
The door creaked softly behind her.
Rogan leaned against the frame, arms crossed, his expression tired in a way Lyra hadn’t seen before.
“I am going back to work tomorrow,” she said.
Rogan stopped short.
“No,” he replied immediately.
Lyra’s jaw tightened. “You didn’t even let me finish p>
“I don’t need to,” he said. “You are not ready p>
“Ready for what?” she snapped, frustration bleeding through. “Fainting again? Feeling weird? Because newsflash, Rogan—I don’t even know what I am supposed to be afraid of p>
“That’s exactly why you shouldn’t go,” he shot back.
Lyra took a step toward him. “Do you hear yourself? You have kept me inside for two days. We are not even in our own apartment, I feel like I am hiding p>
“You are being protected p>
“That’s not the same thing,” she said sharply. “And you know it p>
Rogan ran a hand through his hair, pacing once across the room. “You think I enjoy this? Watching you walk straight into places I can’t follow you into p>
She softened just a fraction but didn’t back down.
“I can’t put my life on pause because you are scared,” Lyra said. “I already feel like I don’t belong anywhere and staying here makes it worse p>
Rogan stopped pacing and faced Lyra again. “You don’t understand what’s circling you p>
“Then tell me,” Lyra said immediately.
His mouth opened, then closed.
“That’s what I thought,” she said quietly. “You are asking me to trust you without giving me anything to hold on to p>
Rogan’s shoulders sagged slightly. “Lyra p>
“I didn’t ask for whatever this is,” she continued, voice steady but raw. “I didn’t ask to feel strange or watched or like my own body isn’t mine anymore. But I did choose that job and I am not giving it up because things got uncomfortable p>
“I felt something change,” he continued. “Not just in you. In the world around you and when things like that happen they don’t go unnoticed p>
Lyra swallowed. “So what? I hide forever p>
“No,” Rogan said, shaking his head slowly. “But not like this p>
She waited.
He exhaled, defeated in a way that made her chest tighten. “If you go,” he said, “you don’t stay late, you don’t walk alone, you don’t take shortcuts. And if you feel even a hint of what you felt before, you leave, immediately p>
Lyra nodded without hesitation. “Okay p>
“And you keep your phone on you p>
“I always do p>
Rogan studied her face, like he was memorizing it again, like he was bracing for something neither of them wanted to name.
Finally, he stepped aside. “Tomorrow, then p>
Relief washed through her, sharp and bittersweet.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
He didn’t answer and left, shutting the door behind him.