For a moment, everything was silent. Not graveyard silence, it was more like a "nothing existed" silence.
My lungs burned, and my head spun, as Eliana dragged me through the broken doorway of some partially collapsed service tunnel like I was a sack of stolen diamonds. If only I was worth that much.
"Stop… choking me…" I wheezed.
"Then stop tripping over your own legs," she snapped, still not slowing down.
It's not my fault the ground kept moving. And, and shaking. And even glowing occasionally. But sure, blame the poor guy who just discovered that apparently, he's a freaking "Conduit."
We slid into a narrow chamber, which was an old maintenance hub with dusty panels, cracked and broken tiles, even old cables hanging from the ceiling like depressed snakes. Then, Eliana finally let go of my arm which was dying to catch its breath and punched a series of buttons on a rusty console, and the metal door behind us hissed first, stuttered… then slammed shut with a choking cough.
"Well. That felt reassuring."
Her shoulders loosened, just a little. Then she muttered, "that won't hold something ancient, but it'll slow down anything trying to sniff us out."
"Great," I responded. "Slowed death is my favorite type."
She shot me a look that I'm about 85% sure could stop a person's heart.
"Sit," she ordered.
"Huh? No 'please'? No 'Milano, thank you for not dying on me'? Not even a 'Milano, are you okay?' Or a snack break at least?"
"Sit." She repeated, ignoring me like I just moved my mouth without producing any sound.
"Fine." I said, as I sat on a crate that looked like it hadn't been cleaned since the Roman Empire. My hands wouldn't stop shaking. My chest felt too tight. And something inside me, the thing that had exploded earlier, just kept humming beneath my ribs like an engine that's overheating.
Then, Eliana knelt in front of me. Her face was close. Too close. Her eyes glowed faintly; it was like silver threaded through blue. Her hair fell over one shoulder and brushed my knee.
And yes, okay, I noticed the rest of her too. I wasn't blind. And it wasn't like her assests weren't undeniably eye-catching.
She noticed me noticing, and raised one eyebrow.
"Focus," she said.
"Yeah, um… I'm focusing," I lied.
"On the wrong things."
"Um, excuse you, those things are very… prominent. I mean—"
"Milano."
"Yes?"
"If your brain keeps wandering, I'll knock you unconscious myself."
…Fair enough.
She exhaled and placed her hand on the center of my chest. I nearly flinched, but there was something about her touch. It wasn't soft or romantic… it was clinical. Precise. Like she was checking for cracks in my ribs.
"Your resonance is unstable," she murmured.
"Is that a nice way of saying I'm dying?"
"It's the honest way of saying you're dangerous."
Oh. Cool. Totally chill.
Eliana's thumb pressed lightly against my sternum, and a pulse of cold instantly spread through me. My heart stuttered, then steadied in a way that felt unnatural. It was like someone had manually grabbed the rhythm and ordered it to get its shit together.
"Wha… what are you doing?" I asked.
"Grounding you. Your energy is leaking into the Veil."
"That sounds bad."
"It is."
"Oh my!"
Her fingers slid upward, stopping just below my throat. I tried not to swallow too obviously; you know that awkward feeling. Her expression was neutral, but her eyes flicked over mine. It was sharp, with something like concern that she was trying very, very hard to hide.
"You're not supposed to activate this early," she said lowly. "Not without a stabilizer, at least."
"Oh! Cool. I guess? What's a stabilizer?"
"Me."
Not sure whether to be relieved or terrified. Maybe both.
She drew back and stood, and her coat swept behind her like some dramatic, supernatural detective. "We need to start training immediately, because, if something old noticed you just now—"
"Something old?" I interrupted. "Is that a technical term or…"
"Yes," she said bluntly. "And it's worse than it sounds."
My stomach dropped. "Hold on, how old we talking here? A century? A thousand? Biblical, maybe?"
She hesitated. And the fact that she did, made my blood run cold.
"Milano," she said slowly, "there are things in the Veil that predate cities. Predate language. Predate… most things."
"Oh wow. Good. Isn't that just amazing. I love that for me."
"You're alive because it was curious, and not hungry. Trust me, that will change."
Well. Perfect. Fan-freaking-tastic.
She lifted her hand, and a faint ripple of silver light coiled around her fingers.
"Lesson one," she said, "you need control."
"Okay. And how do I do that?" I asked.
"Don't panic."
I stared at her, and she stared back.
"That's your advice?" I asked. "Don't panic?"
"Yes."
"Well, that's like telling someone who's on fire to 'just stop burning.'"
"You're not making this easier."
"Oh, trust me, neither are yo—"
Before I could finish the sentence, she flicked her wrist and a sphere of shimmering blue energy shot at my face.
"HEY!"
It hit me square in the forehead. And I didn't die. Or scream. Or explode. Instead… my vision went white for a second, then the humming in my chest synced, clicked, and steadied. It felt like someone had tuned a radio to the proper station.
I blinked, dizzy. "What… the hell was that?!"
"A reset tap," she said casually. "You were spiraling."
"A TAP? Lady, that was an arc reactor that was shot at my skull!"
"You survived."
"That's not the point!"
She calmly crossed her arms, and said, "lesson two. Stand up."
I stood up. Wobbly. Then, she circled me once. Slowly. She was assessing, and I tried not to be weird about her walking behind me, but her presence had weight. It was like gravity, even.
"Tilt your head," she said.
I obeyed. She touched my jaw lightly.
"Not that much."
I froze. Her breath brushed my ear, and my brain instantly turned into soup. She stepped back, clearly aware of the effect, but pretended she wasn't.
"Good enough," she said. "Now breathe."
"I am breathing."
"No. You're wheezing."
"Well, what can I say… that's part of my charm." I said, winking.
She ignored me. "Lesson three. Listen."
"To what?"
"Everything."
So, I tried. At first, all I heard was my own heartbeat. Then, slowly, I heard the low hum of the cables above us, then the distant rumble of the city shifting overhead. Then—
Something else.
Something faint. Soft like a whisper. Like a fingertip brushing glass.
"Eliana…" I whispered.
"I hear it too."
"What is it?"
"The Veil," she said. "And it's looking for you."
As she said that, my pulse spiked.
"Okay," I said shakily, "what do we d—"
Her hand shot out and grabbed my wrist. The lights flickered, my chest burned, and the whisper sharpened into a voice.
Milano.
I stumbled backward. "Did you hear that?!"
She hadn't moved. Her eyes were still locked on mine, but wide now. Terrified.
"No," she said. "Only you heard it."
Her grip tightened.
Then, the whisper returned. Closer. Clearer.
Found you.
The ground trembled. And the Veil — somewhere above, around, inside — rippled like something so massive was pressing against it.
Eliana shoved me behind her, power flaring so bright it hurt to look at. Then, she said, "training is over."
"Huh! Why?!" I yelled.
"Because something ancient just marked you," she whispered.
The chamber lights exploded. And the world fell into utter blackness. The kind that screams.