The dorm room was quiet when I returned—quiet in that way that made the air feel heavy, like everything was holding its breath.
I closed the door behind me with more force than I meant to. My shoulders ached. My chest still burned where the strange mark had flared earlier—bright as fire, then gone like a dream I couldn't hold onto.
I didn't understand what it meant.
My roommates looked up from their beds. Riss sat cross-legged with her notebook open, fingers tracing something invisible in the air. Ilyra lounged by the window, her silver hair catching the moonlight like frost. A half-eaten peach hovered lazily near her head, untouched.
"You look like you saw a ghost," Riss said gently.
I didn't answer. I walked to the corner of the room, peeled off my academy tunic, and sat on the edge of the bed. My reflection in the window looked pale, hollow. My eyes too wide. My thoughts wouldn't settle.
Why didn't I have a mark?
What was that thing that flared under my collarbone?
What had Caleb—the other Caleb—meant?
"Long day?" Ilyra asked, almost teasing.
I nodded, still not speaking. I didn't know how to explain the ache in my ribs. The weight of being different—again.
"You don't have to talk," Riss said quietly, as though she already knew. "But you're loud."
That pulled my gaze to her. "Loud?"
She tapped her head. "Up here."
I blinked. "You can read minds?"
She shrugged. "Sort of. Not thoughts, exactly. But emotions. Images. The louder ones. You're... worried. Confused. Burning."
I flinched at that last word.
She closed her notebook and stood. "I've seen it before. Not your... thing, exactly. But when people are born without marks, and still end up stronger than any of us. It's not random."
"That doesn't make me feel better."
"Wasn't trying to." She smiled faintly. "But I might know where you can start."
Ilyra rolled her eyes. "You're not dragging another confused girl to the east wing again, are you?"
"She's not like the others," Riss said. "She hasn't even begun yet."
She held out her hand.
I stared at it, then at her face. Curious, calm, steady. I could feel something behind her eyes—like a current of thought always just beneath the surface.
I took her hand.
The academy at night was different.
The walls didn't hum with light like they did in the day. They pulsed instead—dim, soft, as though the building itself slept. Riss didn't speak as she guided me through narrow halls and forgotten stairwells. Ilyra didn't follow.
We passed doors that looked older than anything I'd seen. Some sealed with wax. Others etched with deep claw marks.
"How do you know this place?" I asked.
"I read," she said.
Then added, "And I listen."
We stopped before a tall arch of black marble. Lunar carvings crawled across it like ivy—more alive than stone.
"This is where they hide the things they don't burn," Riss said. "The parts of our history that didn't fit the Council's pretty version."
A chill swept over me.
She touched the arch and it split silently, revealing a room that felt colder than it should have. Not in temperature—but in presence.
The shelves here were taller. Dustier. Some books chained. Others pulsing faintly.
Riss stepped inside. I hesitated on the threshold.
Then entered.
The library didn't smell like books. It smelled like old smoke. Like blood.
I ran my fingers along the nearest shelf, feeling heat where none should have been.
"What am I looking for?" I asked.
"You'll know it when you feel it," Riss said.
She wandered into another row, leaving me alone.
I moved slowly, unsure what I was even hoping to find. Something about Moonborn without marks? Fire? Caleb? Me?
Then—
A pull.
Not a sound. Not a glow. But a tug just behind my ribs.
I followed it.
It led to a book with no title. Its cover charred. Its corners torn. The moment I touched it—
Everything shifted.
The shelves around me groaned.
A wind rose from nowhere, carrying dust and whispers.
I turned—saw no one.
But I felt them.
Eyes.
Something watching me.
Something old.
Then, at the end of the aisle, it appeared.
Not a person. Not exactly.
A shadow, taller than the shelves. Antlers made of bone. A face wrapped in gauze that bled moonlight.
It didn't move. It just was.
My breath caught. My legs froze.
The book in my hand burned.
"Who are you?" I whispered.
The thing tilted its head.
And then it spoke—not with words, but inside my head. Like oil slicking across my mind.
"Not yours. Not yet."
I stumbled back. The shelves flickered. The lights dimmed. Riss's voice echoed distantly—too far away.
The figure lifted a hand.
Something inside me screamed.
But then—
It vanished.
Like smoke. Like memory.
I collapsed to my knees, heart slamming against my ribs. The book was gone.
So was the cold.
So was the presence.
Riss appeared around the corner, eyes wide. "What happened?"
"I—I don't know. There was something—"
She knelt beside me, grabbing my hands. "You called it."
"What?"
"Some books are sealed. Guarded. You touched one meant only for bloodlines older than Moon."
I couldn't breathe.
"I think you're not what they say you are," Riss whispered. "I think you're older. Or... tied to something that is."
***
The walk back to the dorm was heavy with a silence so thick it felt like a storm waiting to break. My chest still burned where the strange mark had flared—a searing heat that felt alive beneath my skin. I could still feel the ghostly presence, as if it lurked just beyond the edge of sight.
Riss's hand found my arm, firm but trembling slightly. "Did it really happen?" she asked, voice low, almost afraid.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. "I didn't want it to. When it lifted its hand… something inside me exploded. Fire, anger, something I didn't know I had."
Her eyes widened, shining with disbelief. "You—you made it vanish. Just like that."
I nodded, voice barely a whisper. "It disappeared—like smoke being blown away. Like a nightmare fading at dawn."
Riss stopped, turning to face me fully, her expression torn between awe and fear. "Selene… what the hell was that thing?"
I shook my head, heart pounding hard enough to burst. "I don't know. But when it spoke—inside my head—something screamed back from deep inside me. And then it was gone."
She reached out, grabbing my hands, her grip tight. "I've read about marks, power, ancient bloodlines… but nothing prepares you for this. You're not just different—you're… something else. Something dangerous."
The fire beneath my collarbone flared again, sharp and hot. "What if I can't control it? What if I'm a threat?"
Riss swallowed hard, voice dropping to a harsh whisper. "If the Council finds out what you did… they'll come down on you like a pack of wolves. This… power… it's forbidden. Untamed. Deadly."
Panic clawed at me. "Then what do we do? Tell them? Fight? Run?"
She shook her head fiercely. "No. Not yet. The less they know, the better. This kind of thing—secrets like this—can get you killed."
I looked into her eyes and saw the weight of her words settling in. We were standing at the edge of a precipice neither of us fully understood.
"Whatever I am… whatever this is," I said, voice trembling, "it's inside me now. And it's not going away."
Riss squeezed my hands once more. "We'll figure this out. Together. But promise me—no one else finds out. Not until we know what you're really capable of."
I nodded, but inside, a storm was raging. The thing that had vanished was only the beginning. And whatever came next… I wasn't sure I'd survive it.