CHAPTER 132: SHADOW.

CHAPTER 132: SHADOW.
~Ava’s POV~

I woke up with a jolt.

Not because of a nightmare, because of… pressure. A tightening low in my belly, sharp and electric, like something inside me wanted my attention.

I pressed a hand against my stomach. “Baby…? What was that?”

No answer, of course. Just another pulse of heat beneath my palm, deep and warning. I tried to breathe through it.

“Okay, okay… maybe I just stood up too fast,” I whispered to myself as I rose from the bed.

The room looked normal. Quiet. Calm. There was no reason for the panic tightening in my chest.

Still, my instincts refused to settle.

I walked out to the main area where Mira sat on the couch, sharpening a dagger with her usual blank expression.

She glanced up. “You look pale.”

“I’m fine,” I lied.

“You’re not.” She pointed the dagger at my stomach. “Baby?”

“Maybe,” I muttered, rubbing the spot again. “It felt like… I don’t know. Like a warning.”

Mira stilled. “A warning about what?”

“I don’t know.” I tried to laugh it off. “Maybe I’m just being dramatic.”

“You don’t do dramatic things…,” she said flatly. “If your kid is sending you messages now, that’s not normal.”

“Nothing about my life is normal,” I muttered.

She paused. “Do you want me to call Damon or Eric?”

“No.” I shook my head quickly. “Damon will panic. Eric will tell Damon. And then suddenly I’ll have four guards and Mira the overprotective wolf nanny.”

“I’d be a great nanny,” she said with a shrug. “But fine. I’ll give you space. Just don’t faint again. Carrying you is annoying.”

I snorted. “Sorry for the inconvenience.”

Mira smirked. “Always.”

I walked into the kitchen to pour water, but the moment I touched the cup…

Another sharp pain stabbed through my abdomen.

I froze. The cup slipped from my hand and rolled across the table.

“Ava?” Mira’s tone sharpened. “What happened?”

“My stomach…” I pressed both palms there. “It hurts. Not normal pain. Not… physical. It’s like…” I gasped. “Like my child is… afraid.”

Mira stood immediately. “Sit. Now.”

“I can’t…” I winced, grabbing the table for support. “Something’s wrong.”

She took a step toward me…

And the shadows in the corner of the kitchen shifted.

Not like a trick of the light.

Not like imagination.

Like something alive moved inside them.

Mira saw it too. “Ava,” she whispered. “Stay exactly where you are.”

I swallowed hard. “Mira…?”

“Don’t make a sound.” She placed a hand on her dagger. “Someone’s here.”

“No one can enter this house,” I whispered shakily. “Damon set wards.”

“Then whatever that is didn’t enter like a normal person.”

The shadow pulsed.

My heartbeat thundered in my ears.

“Mira, what is that?”

“I don’t know yet,” she whispered. “But it’s not friendly.”

The pain in my stomach flared again, hotter, sharper, urgent.

“Mira…my baby…something’s wrong, I can feel it…”

“Stay behind me.”

“No,” I whispered, stepping back. “Something is coming.”

The shadows twisted again.

A voice, low and inhuman, slithered through the room.

“Vessel…”

My blood froze.

Mira stiffened. “Ava. Get behind me. Now.”

But my feet felt glued to the ground.

The shadows stretched across the wall, thickening, forming vague shapes, tall, sharp, almost humanoid.

“Mira…” My voice broke.

“What—is—happening?”

She didn’t blink. “I think someone sent something after you.”

“Who?” I gasped.

Mira’s jaw clenched. “Who do you think?”

Livia.

Before I could answer, another voice, more distinct this time echoed from the dark mass.

“We found you.”

My stomach squeezed violently, like the child inside me was screaming.

I grabbed the edge of the counter to keep from collapsing. “Mira…”

“I see them.” Mira moved closer, expression fierce. “Ava, run to the door.”

“I can’t…my stomach…” I sucked in a shaky breath. “It’s like fire…”

“Ava!” she shouted, louder now. “Run!”

The shadows surged forward, swallowing the corner of the room completely.

One tall mass detached from the darkness, stepping toward us.

Mira threw her dagger without hesitation.

It went through the shadow like it wasn’t even there.

“Oh gods…” she murmured.

My entire body trembled. “M-Mira…”

“I know.”

Another shadowy figure slipped out of the darkness beside the first. Then a third.

Their eyes glowed faint silver.

One spoke again, voice like broken stone scraping. “The vessel carries the heir.”

My throat closed.

“They know,” I whispered. “They know about the baby…”

Mira gripped my arm. “Ava, listen to me…”

The shadows expanded, creeping along the walls, floor, and ceiling, swallowing light.

I could barely breathe.

Barely think.

“What do we do?” I whispered, terrified. “Mira, what do we do?”

“We stall them.” Mira pulled me behind her. “And you scream for help.”

“I…”

“NOW, AVA!”

Before I could speak, pain slammed through my abdomen, so strong my knees buckled. I fell against Mira with a cry.

The shadows rushed even closer.

“Ava, scream!” Mira shouted, voice cracking for the first time.

The pain ripped through me again, white-ho

t, blinding.

My vision blurred.

The shadows reached the edge of the table.

“Ava!” Mira yelled again, desperate this time.

I sucked in a shaky breath…

And screamed.

“HELP!”