Rachel's POV
"Rachel," she whispered, her voice a low whisper with an authority I couldn't ignore. "I've been waiting for you." Dark as night, her eyes watched me closely. I felt as though she already knew all my worries and could see right through me. My voice was tight. "I need answers," I stated. These sights are becoming worse. The cult is encroaching on me. I am at a loss as to what to do. Seraphina moved closer, her cloak catching the breeze and whirling about her like a shadow. She never looked away from me. She said enigmatically, "You can't run from a prophecy you're caught in." The cult will keep on. You are their source of strength. You always have been. Her comments struck me like a punch. My legs were weak under me, and for a time I doubted I could stand. A major one? What did she imply? I had spent my whole life running; now I was meant to be the key to their power? The cult, Luna, would stop at nothing to claim you, she said, her voice suddenly frigid in warning. "The ones who stand beside you will not either." The burden of Seraphina's comments pushing on my chest made me wander back across the campus in a trance. The world seemed off-kilter, as though all I had known was slipping through my fingers, leaving me with just doubt. The prophesy. The sect. I was selected, not just running from them anymore. The institution, with its magnificent structures and well-kept grounds, seemed so far away now, almost a weird place I could never really belong to. What did the prophecy mean? My thoughts kept going back to it. Why was I the one in charge? Lost in contemplation, I missed Luka standing beside the library until I was nearly upon him. His emerald eyes fixed on me right away; the intensity of his stare was enough to cause me to hesitate. He seemed different today, more serious, his normal easy grin gone, replaced with a sharp edge I couldn't overlook. "Ymir," he murmured gently, his voice slicing through the stillness like a knife. Your search for me has been ongoing. I paused, almost unable to maintain my breath control. Though I didn't know why he had been searching for me, the intensity of his stare made me uncomfortable. It was as though he could see straight through the mask I had painstakingly constructed. "You've been avoiding me," he murmured, moving a bit closer and filling the gap between us with his presence. My heart started to race as I gulped. His gaze held a greedy quality, as though he intended to draw the truth from me. He was so near that I could sense the heat of his body, his perfume, a combination of leather and something untamed. My heart raced and I could sense my hands shaking at my sides. "I'm not hiding anything from you," I murmured, but the words sounded empty in my tongue. Lies, they were; Luka was aware. His jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed a little. He didn't say anything immediately, but the way he looked at me, sharp and deliberate, suggested to me that this was not finished. Luka replied, low and kind but with clear menace in his voice, "I know you're hiding something from me, Ymir." I mean to discover what it is. Walking away from Luka, I attempted to dismiss the anxiety in my chest, but it remained to bother me. Every step I took appeared to reverberate in the vacant corridors, and the sound of my own heartbeat served as a reminder of how really alone I actually was in this world. It was then I spotted Mika. I hadn't anticipated him to be here, but there he was, standing just outside the classroom where I had been. His black eyes turned to me, and I instantly sensed the air grow denser, as though the space between us was loaded with an unvoiced struggle. Mika continued, his voice soft and mocking, "You look like you've seen a ghost," but there was more to it. He was watching me far too carefully. "I'm okay," I responded fast, attempting to recover my composure. Even as the words left my mouth, though, I could feel the pulse of tension between us. Mika stepped closer, his wide shoulders in my way, and I couldn't help but see how frightening he appeared, even in the gentle light. He was too tall, too strong, too much for me to overlook, like a shadow. "You're lying," he whispered quietly, his voice low and menacing. Ymir, you are not alright. You don't deceive me. Swallowing hard, I tried to brush past him; he remained still. His presence was a wall, immovable and solid. Dark and unreadable, his gaze fixed on me. "Stay away from Luka," he warned, nearly growling. You have no idea what you're getting into. Stay away from him, or we shall both be ripped apart. Every time I saw them, Luka or Mika, the draw became greater despite my efforts to remain away and control my feelings. It was something deeper now, something I couldn't describe rather than physical attraction. Their gaze and the way they made me feel were like an unstoppable force I couldn't resist, regardless of my desire to do so. Though the cool wind was touching my skin, I stood in the university courtyard and it did little to relieve the burning rising in my chest. Though all I could think about was them, the campus was alive with students completing their classes late afternoon. Luka had been avoiding me lately, at least in public, but I could sense him every time I rounded a corner. He was constantly there, watching me from afar. Mika, on the other hand, seems to be wherever I went, almost as if he were purposely pushing himself into my life. Though they were worlds apart, the two siblings both left me in a maelstrom of uncertainty. Walking towards the library, I felt it: the clear weight of someone's stare. Luka Standing beneath the archway, arms crossed over his wide chest, he gazed darkly with something I couldn't quite identify. When our gazes crossed, the universe appeared to freeze around me. "You're running from something, Ymir," he continued, his voice low and threatening like a predator that has just trapped its victim. My breath caught in my throat and my heart raced. He was correct. I was escaping from them, from the past, from whatever this was between us. But how could I say that? Every time they came close, I sensed turmoil. How could I describe that? "I'm not running," I responded softly. "I'm just... trying to live." With every one of his deliberate motions, Luka moved closer and the distance between us shrank. I could sense the heat of his body, the intensity in his stare. "Don't fight this," he said quietly, his voice kind but with great impact. Ymir, we belong together. Luka's comments ran through my head as I went across the dimly lighted campus that night. His presence's warmth stayed on my skin, but it did not soothe the tempest within me. Though so was the dread, the attraction between us was clear-cut. The dread of the prophecy, of the cult, of what was going on. The more the shadows appeared to lengthen the further I travelled from the centre of campus. I wasn't sure why I was going this way; maybe it was because, in the isolation away from the inquisitive gaze of the children and the unrelenting reminder of the twin brothers' impact on me, it felt safer. But a figure moving in the shadows, too quick to be just anyone, disrupted the silence. I felt a sinking in my stomach. I was not by myself. Weeks had passed since I had been alone. The cult was always watching and waiting. Around the bend I went, my heart racing in my chest, but the figure had already vanished. The hairs on the back of my neck rose as my instincts yelled at me to flee. A voice, deep and menacing, stopped me in my tracks before I could act. "You can't run forever, Luna," the voice behind me hissed, sending a shiver down my spine. Seeing him, a masked man with his face hidden but his presence apparent, I whirled around and gasped in my throat. Who are you? Though my voice trembled, I insisted and did not retreat. I was unable to. He moved closer, his shoes silently treading the pavement. You are almost ready to accept your fate. The cult will take you. Your actual identity is unavoidable. The words hit me like a punch. Luna Once more, that title. But why is that? Why should I? He stretched out, just barely touching my arm, and I felt a shock pass through me, the contact colder than the air surrounding us. "You have no choice," he murmured, his voice promising. You are the source of their strength