Chapter Seven
Auron eased Avery back onto the couch, his hands lingering for just a second longer than needed, as though reluctant to let go. He crossed to the loveseat and sat with Remy, the two of them angled toward her like anchors, steady in the stillness.
“From the moment you collapsed,” Remy began softly, “your mark blazed to life. It wasn’t a flare — it was a beacon. We felt it, the Academy felt it… and so did they.”
Avery’s brows drew together. “The Shades?”
Auron gave a grim nod, but before he could explain further, Avery’s questions spilled out. She wanted details — why the visions had felt so real, why she’d seen moments between them she couldn’t possibly remember, what exactly they meant by “tether.”
Remy answered each one with care. “The memories you saw weren’t conjured illusions. They were ours — mine and Auron’s — drawn into you through bloodline and mark. That’s why you didn’t just see them. You felt them.”
Avery glanced down at her arm, where the faint shimmer still clung to her skin. “And that’s dangerous?”
“Only if we let it be,” Auron said. “Which we won’t.”
For a moment, there was silence — the kind that hums with things unsaid — until Avery tilted her head toward Mark, who’d been quietly watching from the armchair. “How do you fit into all of this? How do you know Auron?”
Mark’s lips curved into a wry smile, and Elena reached over to squeeze his hand as if giving him permission to speak.
“We’re… intermediaries,” Mark explained. “Humans who work with the supernatural community — helping different species blend into the human realm. We find them jobs, cover identities, safe places. We also work with the Council to keep the peace when tensions run high.”
Elena’s voice was warm and measured. “We’ve known Auron for years, Avery. Long before you knew who he truly was to you. When your parents needed someone in the human world they could trust, they came to us.”
Avery blinked slowly, her mind fitting puzzle pieces together. “So you’ve all been working together this whole time. To protect me.”
Mark nodded without hesitation. “To protect a lot of people. But yes — you most of all.”
The room seemed smaller now, the truth drawing them all tighter together. And then Remy, as though sensing they couldn’t avoid it any longer, steered the conversation back to the shadow that loomed over them.
“The Shades won’t stop,” she said. “Not until they have what they want.”
“They feed on memory and magic,” Auron added. “But with the mark awakened, you’re not just a target — you’re a key. We need to figure out why, before they do.”
Avery met both of their eyes, fear and determination vying in her chest. “Then I guess we don’t have much time.”
Remy’s hand reached across the space to rest over Avery’s. “No. But we have each other. And that’s how we win.”