Silence returned to the small apartment.
Only the sounds of the night city were heard from outside the window. Wheels of vehicles far on the main road, wind touching power cables, and footsteps of someone passing on the sidewalk.
All felt... normal.
But Kael knew one thing.
Tonight was no longer normal.
The black book now lay closed on the desk, looking like a harmless dead object.
But the symbol on his wrist still glowed faintly.
Lyra walked to the window and looked down at the street.
She made sure the masked man and his people had truly left.
Several seconds passed before she spoke.
"They won't return tonight."
Kael asked without raising his head.
"You're sure?"
Lyra nodded slightly.
"They're not the type to attack twice without a new plan."
She turned and looked at Kael.
"But that doesn't mean you're safe."
Kael leaned back in his chair.
His eyes fixed on the book on the desk.
"I haven't felt safe since that book started writing by itself."
Lyra smiled thinly.
"That's a healthy reaction."
She walked toward the desk again.
But this time she stopped slightly farther from the book.
As if she was still maintaining an invisible distance.
"I want to see something."
She pointed at Kael's wrist.
"The mark."
Kael raised his hand.
The cracked symbol now looked clearer than before.
Thin lines formed a circle that looked like shattered glass.
Lyra observed that mark seriously.
"Hm."
Kael asked,
"What?"
Lyra answered,
"Usually marks like this don't appear so quickly."
She looked at Kael again.
"That means one of two things."
Kael waited.
Lyra continued,
"Either that artifact is far older than I thought."
She paused for a moment.
"Or it truly likes you."
Kael said flatly,
"That doesn't sound like good news."
Lyra nodded.
"Because it's not."
She sat in the chair across the desk now.
But her hands remained far from the book.
"Kael."
Her tone changed slightly.
More serious.
"You need to know something."
Kael looked at her.
Lyra pointed at the symbol on his hand.
"That mark means you are now..."
she searched for the right word.
"...connected to the Veil."
Kael said nothing.
Lyra continued,
"Some people can see a little through the Veil."
She pointed at the book.
"Certain artifacts can open that curtain wider."
She pointed at Kael again.
"But you're different."
Several seconds of silence.
Lyra finally said the next sentence clearly.
"You don't just see the Veil."
She looked at that cracked symbol again.
"You are now marked by it."
Kael frowned slightly.
"What does that mean?"
Lyra leaned back in her chair.
"It means there are things in this world..."
she pointed to the window.
"...that can now see you too."
The room fell silent again.
Night wind entered through the window gap.
The book on the desk did not move.
But Kael felt a strange sensation on his skin.
Like someone was watching from afar.
Lyra saw his expression.
"You feel it."
Kael nodded slightly.
Lyra said,
"That's just the beginning."
She pointed at the book again.
"Every time you open a new page..."
she paused for a moment.
"...that curtain will tear a little wider."
Kael stared at the book for quite a while.
Then he asked,
"How many pages are in there?"
Lyra smiled slightly.
"That's the most interesting part."
She leaned forward slightly.
"I don't know."
Several seconds passed.
Lyra continued in a light tone.
"There are old stories about artifacts like that."
She pointed at the book.
"They say each page holds something."
Kael asked,
"Knowledge?"
Lyra shook her head.
"Sometimes."
She looked at Kael with sharp eyes now.
"Sometimes also something far more dangerous."
Right as she finished speaking—
the book on the desk moved slightly.
Its cover opened half a centimeter.
Lyra immediately tensed.
"Did you touch it?"
Kael shook his head.
"No."
The book opened slightly more.
The first page slowly appeared.
Black ink began forming new words.
Lyra stood from her chair.
"I don't like this."
Kael looked at that page.
Writing emerged slowly.
"Reader."
Several seconds passed.
"You have used the first page."
The ink kept moving.
"Now it is time to learn the second rule."
Lyra whispered,
"There's a rule?"
The ink formed the final sentence.
"When the Veil sees you..."
Several seconds of silence.
Then the last word emerged.
"...it will also remember you."
The room became silent.
Lyra stared at that writing for quite a while.
Then she said softly,
"That is not a metaphor."
Kael looked at her.
Lyra explained in a serious tone.
"Some things behind the Veil..."
she pointed at the symbol on Kael's hand.
"...never forget the faces they have seen."
Several seconds later—
something knocked on the apartment window.
Not from inside.
From outside.
Even though they were on the third floor.