The moonlight sliced through the trees like silver knives, bathing the forest in an eerie glow. Ivy's breathing was ragged, her bare feet thudding against the damp soil as she ran blindly into the woods, her heart pounding louder than her footsteps. The voice had come again, stronger this time—echoing in her mind the moment she'd awakened from yet another nightmare.
Xander had been fast asleep, curled peacefully in his bed, his little fingers tucked beneath his chin. Jayden had stirred beside her, immediately sensing Ivy's distress as she jolted upright, her skin cold with sweat and magic pulsing beneath her skin like a caged storm.
"Ivy?" he asked, sitting up. "What's wrong?"
She didn't answer.
"Ivy!"
But she was already gone, the front door swinging in her wake.
Jayden cursed under his breath, tugged on his boots, and took off after her, heart in his throat.
---
The trees blurred past her, and something burned in her fingertips. She stumbled and fell to her knees beside a shallow creek. Her body trembled uncontrollably. Her fingers dug into the mud, her powers writhing beneath the surface like an angry beast.
And then she saw it—her nails, elongating. Sharp. Inhuman. Her hands were trembling as violet light sparked beneath her skin.
"What... what's happening to me?" she gasped.
"Ivy!"
Jayden's voice broke through the chaos, and he appeared a few feet away, eyes wide with confusion. "Your eyes... your hands…"
"I don't know!" she sobbed, clutching her arms to her chest. "Jayden, I don't understand. What's happening to me?"
Before he could respond, another voice emerged from the darkness.
"You're changing."
Jayden stepped in front of Ivy protectively. "Who the hell—?"
Ivy stood up, her breath catching. That voice.
Jake stepped forward slowly, hands raised. "You're not crazy. You're awakening."
Her eyes burned with fury. "Why do you know my name? Who are you?"
He looked at her with pain etched deep in his features. His voice cracked as he said, "Because I'm your brother, Ivy."
Silence dropped over the clearing like a thunderclap.
Ivy's lips parted, but no words came. Her mind reeled as if the world had been yanked from under her feet. Everything inside her screamed to run, to fight, to deny it.
But deep down… the name he spoke in her dreams… the voice calling her Ivora…
She knew.
Somehow… she knew.
---