Lucien did not believe in coincidences.
Not after war. Not after betrayal. Not after watching kingdoms fall because someone hesitated.
So when the Veil trembled—
He knew.
The sensation struck him like a distant echo through bone and blood. Faint. Shielded. But unmistakable.
He stood on the balcony overlooking the sleeping city, silver hair shifting slightly in the night wind. Below, lights flickered across buildings like fragile stars.
Humans.
Unaware.
The pulse came again.
Soft.
Hidden.
Alive.
His fingers tightened against the stone railing.
"It's her," he said quietly.
Behind him, the door opened without sound. Gamma stepped forward, posture rigid.
"You felt it too."
Lucien did not turn. His eyes remained on the horizon.
"Yes."
The Veil had been sealed centuries ago. Woven in celestial blood and forbidden magic. Nothing was supposed to pass through it.
Nothing.
Yet something had.
Or someone.
Ashen, in wolf form near the doorway, lifted his head. A low growl vibrated through the room, instinct recognizing what logic refused to accept.
Lucien closed his eyes.
And reached.
There.
A spark.
Buried beneath layers of old enchantment.
Small.
But burning.
A bond long thought dead stirred like an ember catching wind.
His jaw tightened.
"She's not awakened fully," Gamma said carefully. "The shield around her is still holding."
"For now."
The words were calm.
Too calm.
Because if he could feel her—
There was another who would feel it soon.
And that would not end quietly.
Far below the world of men, in a place carved from shadow and ruin—
A red glow flickered.
Lucien's eyes opened slowly.
"We find her," he ordered.
Gamma hesitated. "If we move too quickly, the Veil may collapse."
Lucien finally turned.
Gold eyes.
Cold. Ancient. Certain.
"If the Veil collapses," he said softly, "then the world will remember why it was built."
Outside, the wind shifted.
And somewhere in the city—
A girl with a silver pendant felt her heart skip once.
The hunt had begun.