Run: 2026-02-19-01KHT0QPF2V2J4XHMEXE0VGD9F

The three deadbolts clicked in sequence, each one a small eternity. Rory's heart hammered against her ribs as the door swung open, revealing Eva's familiar silhouette framed by the dim hallway light. Her friend's dark eyes widened, taking in Rory's rain-soaked jacket and the nervous energy radiating from her stance. "Bloody hell, Rory. What are you doing here?" Before Rory could answer, a figure emerged from the shadows behind Eva. Platinum blond hair caught the light first, then those unmistakable mismatched eyes — one amber, one black — locked onto hers with an intensity that made her breath catch. Lucien Moreau stood in Eva's cramped living room like he owned the place, his tailored charcoal suit somehow immaculate despite the late hour. The ivory handle of his cane gleamed where it rested against the arm of Eva's threadbare sofa. "Well, well. The prodigal delivery girl returns." His French accent wrapped around the words like silk, but Rory caught the edge beneath it. Three months. It had been three months since she'd walked away from him in that warehouse, since she'd chosen safety over whatever dangerous game they'd been playing. "I need Eva's help with something." Rory kept her voice steady, professional. She wouldn't let him see how his presence affected her, how the sight of those long fingers wrapped around his cane made her remember other things they'd wrapped around. "Come in before the neighbours start talking." Eva stepped aside, but her expression remained guarded. "Though I should warn you, we're in the middle of something rather important." Ptolemy wound around Rory's legs as she entered, purring his greeting. The familiar chaos of Eva's flat enveloped her — books stacked on every surface, scrolls unfurled across the coffee table, research notes pinned to the walls like a conspiracy theorist's fever dream. But tonight, everything felt different. Charged. Lucien hadn't moved from his position by the window, but Rory felt his gaze tracking her every step. She kept her back to him, focusing on Eva instead. "I found something. In one of my deliveries tonight. Something that doesn't belong in our world." "How delightfully vague." Lucien's cane tapped once against the floor. "Still playing the innocent, I see." Heat flared in Rory's chest. She spun to face him, forgetting her earlier resolve to stay composed. "I'm not playing anything. And I'm not talking to you." "No? Because last I checked, you were quite fond of talking to me. Among other things." The air between them crackled. Eva cleared her throat, but neither of them looked away from the other. "What did you find, Rory?" Eva's voice cut through the tension. Rory reached into her jacket pocket, pulling out the small obsidian pendant she'd discovered tucked beneath a stack of takeaway containers. The moment it hit the air, both Eva and Lucien went rigid. "Where exactly did you find that?" Lucien's casual demeanour evaporated. He moved closer, his mismatched eyes fixed on the pendant with an intensity that made Rory's skin prickle. "Golden Empress. Mrs. Chen asked me to clean out the storage room, and it was hidden behind some old boxes. The second I touched it, I felt... something. Like electricity, but wrong." Eva reached for the pendant, then stopped herself. "Don't let me touch it directly. Use this." She grabbed a tea towel from the kitchen counter. "Lucien, is that what I think it is?" "A binding stone from Avaros. Specifically designed to anchor demonic entities to our realm." His voice had gone cold, professional. "Someone's been very busy." Rory's blood chilled. "Demonic entities? Are you saying someone's trying to summon demons into London?" "Not trying, darling. Succeeding." Lucien moved to the window, peering through the gaps in Eva's makeshift curtains. "Three similar stones have surfaced in the past month. Each one found after a particularly nasty supernatural incident." "And you didn't think to warn anyone?" The accusation slipped out before Rory could stop it. Lucien turned back to her, his expression unreadable. "Warn whom? The woman who made it quite clear she wanted nothing to do with my world?" The words hit like a physical blow. Rory's hands clenched at her sides, the pendant digging into her palm through the tea towel. "That's not— I didn't—" "Didn't what? Didn't walk away without a word? Didn't decide that playing it safe was more important than—" "Than what, Lucien?" Rory stepped closer, close enough to see the flecks of gold in his amber eye. "Than getting myself killed? Than watching you disappear into whatever dangerous scheme you're always running?" "I never asked you to save me." "No, you just expected me to stand by and watch while you destroyed yourself." They were inches apart now, close enough that she could smell his cologne, could see the subtle tension in his jaw. The same magnetic pull that had drawn her to him months ago thrummed between them, stronger than ever. "Enough." Eva's sharp voice broke the spell. "Both of you. We have bigger problems than your unresolved romantic tension." Rory jerked backwards, heat flooding her cheeks. Lucien straightened his cufflinks, his mask of composure sliding back into place. "Eva's right. Four binding stones means four potential anchoring points. If someone's planning what I think they're planning..." He left the sentence hanging. "What are they planning?" Rory forced herself to focus on the crisis at hand, not on the way Lucien's lips had been so close to hers. "A permanent tear between realms. A gateway that stays open." Eva wrapped the pendant more securely in the tea towel. "The kind of thing that could flood London with every nasty creature that's ever wanted a holiday on Earth." Rory sank onto the sofa, the weight of the situation settling on her shoulders. "So what do we do?" "We find the other stones. We find whoever's placing them. And we stop them before they complete whatever ritual they're planning." Lucien's cane tapped against the floor again, a rhythmic sound that somehow helped Rory think. "I can't do this alone," Eva continued. "I need both of you." The silence stretched between them. Rory stared at the pendant in Eva's hands, at the books scattered across every surface, at anything except Lucien's face. "The Golden Empress isn't the only place I deliver to," she said finally. "I know half the restaurants and shops in East London. If there are more stones hidden around the area..." "You could find them." Lucien's voice was carefully neutral. "But you'd need someone who understands what to look for. Someone who knows the supernatural world." Their eyes met across the cluttered room. The hurt was still there, raw and unhealed, but underneath it something else flickered. The same connection that had brought them together in the first place, the same pull that had made walking away the hardest thing she'd ever done. "I suppose we don't have a choice," Rory said quietly. "We always have a choice, darling. The question is whether we're brave enough to make the right one." Ptolemy jumped onto the coffee table, scattering Eva's notes. In the distance, London's night sounds filtered through the thin walls — sirens, late-night revellers, the eternal hum of a city that never truly slept. Somewhere out there, someone was working to tear a hole between worlds. And the only thing standing in their way was two people who couldn't seem to be in the same room without setting everything on fire.