I ran.
Not the slow, confused kind of running you do when you think you might have left the stove on, but the kind where your survival instincts hijack your body and scream: Move or die. My heartbeat hammered in my ears, and every breath burned in my chest.
Behind me, the jackal-headed warrior let out a snarl, its footsteps pounding against the pavement.
I didn't dare look back.
My backpack bounced against my shoulders as I turned a sharp corner, nearly colliding with a parked car. My brain was still catching up with the fact that I was running from an actual monster. What the hell is happening?
Then, like a gift from the gods—assuming they cared—familiar graffiti-covered brick walls came into view. The alley behind Aunika's bookstore.
I didn't hesitate. I sprinted toward the back entrance, practically throwing myself at the door, and slammed my fists against it.
"Aunika!" I gasped. "Open up! I'm being chased by—"
The door yanked open so fast I nearly fell inside. Aunika stood there, wide-eyed, her phone in one hand, a metal pipe in the other.
"Aneria?" she asked. "What—?"
Before she could finish, I shoved my way in and kicked the door shut.
Then the entire door shook as something heavy slammed into it.
Aunika cursed, locking the deadbolt. "What the hell is going on?"
"I don't know!" I wheezed. "Some—some giant jackal dude with a sword tried to kill me!"
Aunika went still, her dark brown eyes narrowing. "You're sure?"
"Uh, yeah, pretty sure!" I gestured wildly at the door. "Unless I hallucinated a six-foot-tall Anubis reject chasing me through the streets—"
Another loud thud rattled the door.
Aunika cursed again, then grabbed my wrist. "Come on, we can't stay here."
She pulled me through the storage room and into the bookstore's main area—small, cozy, and filled with the scent of old paper and cinnamon incense. Normally, I loved this place. Right now, I was too busy trying not to have a full-blown panic attack.
Aunika dragged me toward a tall wooden bookshelf near the back. "Stay close," she muttered, running her fingers along the spines of the books like she was searching for something.
I tried to focus, but my brain was short-circuiting. My thoughts were a mess of What is happening? and Holy crap, Aunika's hands are really soft.
Not the time, Aneria. Not the freaking time.
The front windows rattled. Shadows flickered outside.
Aunika muttered something under her breath—definitely not English—then pulled an entire bookshelf open like a door.
I stared. "What."
"No time to explain. Get inside."
I was too stunned to argue. She pushed me into the hidden passageway, then shut the bookshelf behind us.
Darkness swallowed us whole.
I sucked in a breath, trying to get my thoughts under control. "Aunika—what—how—?"
Aunika switched on a small flashlight, illuminating a stone hallway. Not brick. Not wood. Stone. Like the inside of an ancient tomb.
I swallowed hard. "Okay. I'm officially losing it."
Aunika didn't answer. She just grabbed my hand—okay wow she's really warm—and led me deeper into the passage.
Finally, when we were far enough from the entrance, she stopped and turned to face me.
"Aneria," she said, voice serious. "I need you to tell me exactly what happened. Every detail."
I exhaled shakily. "I—I was walking home. Then the shadows got weird. The air got cold. And then, boom, jackal warrior trying to turn me into a shish kebab."
Aunika muttered something that sounded suspiciously like a curse in another language.
I frowned. "Why do I feel like you're not as shocked by this as you should be?"
She hesitated. "Because I'm not."
A heavy silence stretched between us.
I stared at her. She stared back.
A dozen questions burned in my head. Before I could ask any of them, Aunika reached into her hoodie pocket and pulled out a small, golden pendant.
The second I saw it, my entire body buzzed.
A sharp pain shot through my temples.
Images flashed through my mind—glowing hieroglyphs, a giant bird with piercing eyes, a deep, echoing voice saying my name.
I staggered back, grabbing my head. "Wh-what is that?"
Aunika stepped closer, brows furrowed. "You recognize it, don't you?"
I wanted to say no. I wanted to demand answers. But the truth was, I did recognize it. I just didn't know why.
My stomach churned. "Aunika… what's going on?"
She hesitated again, then sighed. "Look, I was hoping we had more time, but… I think it's finally happening."
I blinked. "What is?"
She gave me a look that sent a shiver down my spine. "You."
Silence.
Then: a loud bang echoed from the storage room.
The jackal was still outside.
Aunika grabbed my hand. "We need to move."
We ran through the stone tunnel, Aunika leading the way with the flashlight. The air was thick and stale, and the deeper we went, the colder it became.
"Where are we?" I asked, my voice bouncing off the walls.
"A tomb," she said over her shoulder. "A real one. It's connected to my shop."
"Because of course it is."
She shot me a quick grin. "Smart girl."
I tried to focus on the fact that my life was falling apart, but my brain kept short-circuiting at the way the shadows flickered over Aunika's cheekbones. I mean, yeah, we'd been friends for a while, but I'd never noticed how pretty she was in this light—
Get it together, Aneria.
A loud crash echoed from behind us. That thing was getting in.
I panicked. "What do we do?"
Aunika yanked me forward. "Just trust me."
We ran. The tunnel twisted and turned, and then suddenly we were in an open chamber with actual hieroglyphs glowing on the walls. At the center of the room stood a pedestal.
On top of it sat a golden staff.
The second I saw it, that weird buzzing in my head turned into a full-blown earthquake.
Aunika saw me stagger and grabbed my arm. "It's yours," she whispered. "Take it."
I looked at her. "What?"
"This is what I was trying to tell you, An. You're not just some girl. You're—"
Before she could finish, the air shook.
The stone walls cracked. The jackal warrior had found us.
It lunged.
I had no choice. I grabbed the staff.
The moment my fingers closed around the gold, a shockwave exploded from my body, blasting the jackal away.
I gasped. Power rushed through my veins.
And in that moment, I knew.
I wasn't normal.
I was something else.
I was something more.