Run: 2026-05-27-01KSMESEECS0J8T7F1Z1X1SE6N

Aurora flung open the door, her face red and angry. Yanking Eva inside the apartment, she didn't care about the cat Ptolemy screeching by her feet or the research papers littering the floor. "Rory, calm down! Please, I know-" "I knew you weren't in this alone!" Aurora snapped, keeping her voice low. Eva's hair was wild, vapor diffused over their irises. Two years ago, the former student at the Taylor Watts tea school, daughter of the tea school founder, rested her hands on Aurora's shoulders, trying to soothe out her rush of panic. "Must you always run at things with a sword?" She asked. "I wasn't-" "You're out of your depth!" She sputtered in frustration. Her own roommate's research kept piling up on her desk, the books, the pencil- engraved amulets... Eva took a deep breath, patting Rory gently as she twitched her head back and forth. "Now listen carefully. Fringe thriller books, religious texts, linguistics - they all tie together. Plug - I mean Paddington, isn't who we think he is." Ms.Carter narrowed her eyes. I won't get you hurt, she summed up, letting her friend step back into the room. Popping her knuckles, she held back the tears as she felt her lips tremble. "Eva-" She caught her breath. Her best friend turned around, Pat's face thrown over her shoulder like a flaxen bodyguard. She muffled a laugh, trying to stovepipe herself. "Don't worry Rory - it'll all work out!" Aurora slammed the door. She threw her bike to the floor. Even Patricia had better be doing right by her. She flew down the concrete steps of the apartment renting her friend. She wouldn't cry. She didn't living with Silas kicking up still. Her accounting for rent allowing her to learn the martial magic the proprietor promised in exchange. Suddenly, arms hooked around her waist. "Rory, stop! Let me run ore on this for a moment. It's crucial." She pinched the bridge of her nose. Her eyes fell open and a thing that moved caught her eye. "Eva." Her lip bounced up and down, up and down. Eva nodded, dragging a moment of silence up. "Hey Rory, I'll figure it all out in the end. I have - know - powerful people looking out for us both now okay?" She whispered. Together, they trekked down the quaint bricks of Brick Lane. Emma, one of her roommate's contacts, told Rory some details to look into. She still couldn't wrap her head around where Eva had been for the past month. She didn't ask, her instinct screaming that the truth would trouble her more than she already was. A yelp left her lips as frigid air filled her lungs, the rush forcing her off the pavement with an "oomph" against the concrete. She heard paws nine-pin down the street. BLAM. Fatima ran by the shop, then flowed into shadows, out of sight. Too quickly as she vomited, face crimson. "My God - north-west for the night." The bells chimed, the shop lights flickered, and she heard footsteps stop. Her heart thumped, unable to identify the threat. A strong hand she'd recognize anywhere lifted her to a sitting position, the woolly arm coiling around to her future as if every moment since Evan hadn't left this fear in the pit of her gut. She shook, meeting the heterochromatic eyes she had once loved. Lucien sighed, taking in the small colonies of crimson on Rory's knuckles. She looked a tremendous mess. "Listen, we can't chat. I'm here for work. Nothing more." Aurora wiped her eyes, a smile stuttering over her face. "You missed me." He turned away but didn't move. A mirror, forever reflecting the only one she'd confessed to falling for that could never be: a half-demon. "I'm in Londonlywood business, Rory. Nothing more."