Chapter 64: Chapter 64
The voice vanished as quickly as it appeared. Silence slammed back into the apartment hard enough to make Rowan question whether she had imagined any of it at all. Except Corvin had heard it too. She knew because every part of him had changed. The air around him sharpened instantly, power pulling tight beneath his skin with dangerous control. Rowan had seen Corvin angry before. She had seen him violent. This felt different. Ancient. The reflection in the glass disappeared completely, leaving only the city lights beyond the windows.
Corvin did not move away from her.
“Rowan.”
The tone of his voice sent a cold wave down her spine.
“What the hell was that?”
His gaze remained fixed on the windows another second before he finally looked back at her. “Something that should not have been able to enter this building.”
That answer did absolutely nothing to help.
Rowan stepped away from the glass immediately. “Okay, fantastic. Love that for us.”
Corvin caught her wrist gently before she could move farther across the room.
“Look at me.”
She did.
The intensity in his expression almost stole the breath from her lungs.
“You are safe here.”
Rowan stared at him. “You literally just said something impossible got into your heavily protected supernatural penthouse.”
“It reached the reflection. Not you.”
“That sentence somehow made this worse.”
A faint flicker of frustration crossed his face, though it seemed directed entirely at himself.
“The wards held,” he said carefully. “If they had failed, it would already be inside.”
“Well that is deeply comforting and not horrifying at all.”
Despite the situation, Corvin’s thumb brushed once against the inside of her wrist like the movement happened instinctively.
“You’re shaking.”
“I noticed.”
Rowan hated that she sounded breathless. Not because she was weak. Because some part of her knew the woman in the reflection had been looking directly at her. Not Corvin. Not the apartment. Her.
Corvin must have sensed the direction of her thoughts because his expression darkened further.
“She cannot reach you.”
“You sound like you’re trying to convince yourself.”
The honesty of the statement landed between them heavily. For a second, Corvin said nothing. Which terrified her more than any reassurance would have. A sharp knock suddenly echoed through the apartment. Rowan nearly jumped out of her skin. Corvin turned toward the entrance immediately, his posture shifting in an instant from protective to lethal.
Then Malric’s voice came through the other side of the door.
“If you attack me through the wall again, I’m leaving.”
Rowan exhaled hard enough to almost laugh from relief.
Corvin released her wrist and crossed the apartment quickly. The second the door opened, Malric stepped inside already looking irritated.
“That reaction felt excessive.”
“You should have called first,” Corvin replied calmly.
Malric stopped mid-step.
His eyes moved immediately toward Rowan.
“What happened?”
The irritation vanished from his expression almost instantly.
Rowan folded her arms tightly. “Apparently Houston is haunted.”
“That is not new information.”
“A creepy glowing woman just spoke to me through a window.”
Malric went completely still.
For once, nobody made a sarcastic comment afterward.
That felt significantly worse.
Rowan looked between both of them. “Okay. I need everyone to stop reacting like that.”
Malric’s gaze shifted toward Corvin. “You saw her too?”
“Yes.”
“And heard her.”
“Yes.”
The silence that followed felt heavy enough to crush the room flat.
Rowan’s pulse sped up again. “Would somebody please explain why this suddenly feels like the beginning of a horror movie?”
Malric dragged one hand slowly down his face before answering.
“Because there are only a few entities powerful enough to project themselves through warded reflections.”
“That explanation raised more questions than answers.”
“It also means,” Corvin said quietly, “she should not have found you this quickly.”
Rowan stared at him. “Found me for what?”
Neither of them answered immediately.
That was becoming her least favorite supernatural habit.
Malric finally looked toward her carefully. “Rowan, when certain ancient beings wake up, they search for specific bloodlines, bonds, and energy signatures.”
She blinked once. “I’m sorry. Did you say wake up?”
“Yes.”
“No part of that sentence felt survivable.”
Corvin moved back toward her before the panic fully settled in. His presence wrapped around her steadily enough to keep her grounded.
“She cannot take you,” he said firmly.
“That sounds like something people say right before things get dramatically worse.”
“She’s not wrong,” Malric muttered.
Corvin shot him a flat look.
“What?” Malric replied. “You know that phrasing was terrible.”
Rowan stared at both of them for a second before laughing once under her breath in disbelief.
“This is my life now,” she muttered. “Ancient supernatural nightmare women are crawling through Houston while you two argue like divorced immortals.”
“Emotionally complicated immortals,” Malric corrected automatically.
Corvin looked genuinely offended. “I dislike you more every day.”
“That’s fair.”
For one ridiculous second, the tension cracked just enough for Rowan to breathe again.
Then every light in the apartment flickered simultaneously.
The room went dark.
Rowan’s stomach dropped instantly.
A low sound rolled through the building beneath their feet. Not thunder. Not mechanical.
Something deeper.
The lights returned half a second later.
All three of them froze.
Because Jess stood motionless at the end of the hallway in borrowed pajamas, staring toward the windows with wide horrified eyes.
And behind her, reflected faintly in the dark television screen, the golden-eyed woman was smiling again.