---
That revelation unsettled me so deeply that I shivered.
My uncle exhaled slowly.
As if every word cost him something.
— Years ago…
He stopped.
Searching for his words.
Or perhaps—
the order in which to lay them down.
— The same phenomenon occurred.
His voice was flat.
Factual.
As if he were reciting a story that no longer belonged to him.
— People were disappearing regularly and in strange ways. Each time it happened, that… pressure in the air would linger.
He paused.
— And a few days later their bodies would turn up across all corners of the city. The bodies showed no visible marks of attack or evidence of murder, but they were dead all the same — with nothing to show for it except that pressure in the air.
He ran a hand through his hair.
— Raven's Shade was burning from the inside.
---
I said nothing.
I let him continue.
---
— We were in over our heads.
His eyes settled somewhere behind me.
Far away.
— The council didn't understand what they were dealing with. Nobody really did.
He swallowed.
— Until Gabriel.
---
That name.
In his mouth.
With that weight behind it.
I straightened slightly.
— He helped you.
It wasn't a question.
---
— He knew things we didn't.
Harry didn't deny it.
— About what was attacking. About how to contain it.
His hands joined in front of him.
— Without him…
He didn't finish.
But I understood.
---
Silence.
---
— And the insignia.
I set the word down gently.
Like a stone on a fragile surface.
His gaze came back to me.
— It's your way of telling him you haven't forgotten.
---
He tilted his head slightly.
A single movement.
Enough.
---
— What was attacking…
I continued.
My voice lower now.
— It wasn't random.
---
Something crossed his face.
Too fast to name.
But not fast enough to ignore.
— No.
he said at last.
— It wasn't random.
---
I leaned forward slightly.
— It was looking for something.
---
The silence stretched.
Long.
Calculated.
Harry didn't answer immediately.
And that silence—
was worth every confession.
---
— Something…
he murmured.
His voice dropped a notch.
— That is in Raven's Shade.
---
My heart slowed.
No quickening.
No panic.
Just—
that cold feeling.
That settles in.
When you understand that what you're hearing—
is going to change everything.
---
— And today…
I held his gaze.
— It came back.
---
Harry didn't blink.
— Yes.
---
A beat.
---
— So it's not over.
My voice was calm.
Too calm, perhaps.
— It never really was.
He stood up slowly.
— We just…
He passed a hand behind his back.
— Bought time.
---
I stayed seated.
Eyes fixed ahead.
Something in me wanted to ask the next question.
The real one.
*What it's looking for—*
*what is it.*
But something else—
more instinctive.
Deeper.
Held me back.
As if a part of me already knew—
that the answer to that question—
would take me somewhere—
I could never come back from.
---
So I stood up in turn.
The question was burning on my lips and I finally asked it.
— What it's looking for…
My voice stopped.
Too late.
My uncle didn't answer.
But this time—
he didn't look away.
And in that silence—
I understood.
— Jackson.
His voice nailed me to the spot.
I didn't turn around.
— Stay away from her.
---
Silence.
---
— Not for me.
His voice became almost—
human.
— For you.
---
I left without answering.
Because we both already knew—
that it was already too late.
---