Chapter 63: Chapter 63
Rowan woke before she understood why. For several seconds she stayed completely still beneath the blankets, staring into the darkness while unease pressed heavily against her chest. The apartment remained quiet around her. Safe. Expensive. Guarded by enough supernatural protection that almost nothing should have been able to touch her there. Still, something felt wrong. Not inside the apartment. Beneath it. Rowan sat up slowly and looked toward the windows overlooking Houston. The city stretched endlessly beyond the glass in ribbons of headlights and distant towers glowing against the night sky. Usually she liked the view. Tonight the city felt awake. The sensation slid uncomfortably beneath her skin like pressure building before a storm. She could not explain it properly. Ever since becoming tied to Corvin’s world, she had started sensing things she was never supposed to notice. Energy. Emotion. Places where something old had touched reality and left scars behind. Tonight Houston felt like it was listening. A quiet sound came from the main room. Rowan turned toward the bedroom door instantly. Then she felt him. Corvin. Relief settled through her almost immediately, warm and familiar enough to loosen some of the tension in her chest. She slipped from the bed, grabbed the robe hanging nearby, and stepped into the living area. Corvin stood near the windows with his back partially turned toward her, city lights casting silver across the sharp edges of his profile. His coat was gone, sleeves rolled slightly upward, but the stillness in his posture told her everything she needed to know. Something had happened.
He looked toward her before she spoke.
“You should be asleep.”
Rowan crossed her arms lightly. “Apparently Houston disagrees.”
A faint smile touched his mouth before fading again. That worried her more than if he had stayed expressionless.
She moved closer. “What’s wrong?”
Corvin hesitated briefly.
“It may involve Jess.”
Rowan blinked. “That sentence never leads anywhere good.”
“She learned more about herself tonight.”
“And?”
His gaze settled carefully on hers.
“And about Malric.”
Rowan stared at him for half a second before exhaling heavily. “I leave them alone for one evening.”
Despite the tension hanging around him, amusement flickered briefly in Corvin’s eyes.
“It was not entirely disastrous.”
“That is not reassuring wording.”
“No,” he admitted quietly. “It is not.”
Rowan glanced toward the hallway leading to Jess’s room before looking back at him. “Is she okay?”
“For now.”
“I really hate when you answer questions like that.”
“I know.”
The honesty softened some of her irritation before she could hold onto it. Rowan stepped beside him near the windows and looked out over the city again. The pressure she had felt waking up still lingered beneath her skin.
“It feels different tonight,” she said quietly.
Corvin’s expression darkened slightly. “I know.”
The bond between them shifted uneasily at the same moment lights flickered faintly across part of the skyline. Not enough for most people to notice. Just a ripple moving through downtown a second too smoothly to be electrical.
Rowan’s stomach tightened.
“Tell me that wasn’t supernatural.”
Corvin stayed silent.
“Corvin.”
He exhaled slowly before answering. “The city is reacting to something.”
“That sounds terrible.”
“It usually is.”
Rowan rubbed tiredly at her forehead before leaning one shoulder lightly against the glass. “I miss when my biggest problem was angry vendors and broken coffee machines.”
“You still complained less than most people.”
“That is because violence against office equipment is technically discouraged.”
Another small smile touched his mouth. God, she hated how much she liked being the reason for those. The realization hit her hard enough that she looked away toward the skyline again.
Everything between them had changed so gradually she had almost missed it. Somewhere between surviving monsters and uncovering ancient conspiracies, Corvin had stopped feeling distant. Now he felt dangerously important. The silence stretched softly between them. Not uncomfortable. Just close. Rowan became aware of his hand resting near hers against the edge of the window. Not touching. Waiting. Corvin always waited now. Like he had learned exactly how fragile trust could become once somebody actually mattered to him. The thought tightened something warm in her chest. Without fully thinking about it, Rowan shifted her hand until her fingers brushed lightly against his. Corvin went still immediately. Then his hand turned beneath hers, fingers sliding carefully through her own. The bond warmed instantly. Not sharp. Not overwhelming. Just steady enough to quiet some of the fear pressing around her thoughts.
Rowan looked down briefly at their hands before speaking softly.
“I had a dream.”
Corvin’s attention sharpened immediately. “About what?”
“The city.”
His expression changed enough to make her nervous.
Rowan swallowed lightly. “It felt like something was moving underneath Houston. Not physically. More like…” She struggled briefly for words. “Like roots spreading under the streets. Or veins.”
Corvin stayed very still.
“And there was someone looking for something,” Rowan continued quietly. “I could feel it.”
“What kind of someone?”
“I don’t know.” Her voice lowered slightly. “But I think it found me.”
The room fell silent. Outside, another ripple moved through the skyline lights. This time Rowan knew she had not imagined it.
Her pulse quickened.
“Corvin.”
Before he could answer, something shifted in the reflection across the glass. Rowan froze instantly. A woman stood behind them in the window’s reflection despite the apartment being empty moments earlier. Pale skin. Gold eyes. A calm smile that felt deeply wrong. Corvin moved in front of Rowan immediately. The woman’s gaze locked directly onto Rowan through the glass.
Then she smiled wider.
“Found you.”
The voice did not come from the apartment. It echoed upward from the city below.