He did not know where he was going. His legs carried him down the street, away from the creature, away from the others who were still laughing, still talking, still living in a world where monsters did not exist. His breath came in ragged gasps. His cheek throbbed. Behind him, he heard nothing, which was worse than anything he could have imagined.
The creature did not make a sound. It did not breathe. It did not announce its presence with the ordinary noise of movement and intent. It simply was, and then it was closer, and then it was between him and the others.
It moved toward him with the same terrible silence, and in its passage, it did not slow. It did not avoid. It moved through the space where Noah was standing, and Noah was thrown sideways, his shoulder slamming into a pile of rubble, his face a mask of confusion and pain.
"Noah!" Danielle's voice. Sharp. Afraid.
But Zane could not stop. The creature was still coming, still closing, and Noah was on the ground, his arm bent at an angle that arms should not bend, and Marcus was shouting something that Zane could not hear over the blood rushing in his ears.
The creature caught him.
Its hand closed around his arm, and the cold was immediate and absolute. Not the cold of winter or ice or anything that belonged to the natural world. The cold of absence. The cold of something that should not exist, touching something that did.
It pulled him close, close enough that its face was inches from his, close enough that he could see the nothing where its eyes should have been, could feel the weight of its attention pressing against his skin.
Its other hand rose. The fingers came together, forming the spear that had grazed his face, that had drawn his blood, that was now aimed at the center of his chest.
He could not move. He could not breathe. He could only watch as the creature prepared to end him.
Light exploded between them.
It came from nowhere and everywhere, white and gold and blinding, and the creature was thrown backward, its grip torn from Zane's arm, its form twisting as it tried to find purchase on ground that was no longer solid beneath it.
The light coalesced into a figure. Human-shaped. Wrapped in brightness that did not burn but that made the eyes ache to look at. The smell of lilies filled the street, sweet and clean, cutting through the dust and the salt and the sweat.
She stood between Zane and the creature, her hand raised, her light steady, and when she moved, she moved like a thought given form.
One moment, the creature was rising, its shape reforming, its intent gathering. The next moment, it was gone. Not vanished. Not escaped. Unmade. The light passed through it, and where the light touched, the creature ceased to be, its darkness dissolving into something that was not darkness but the memory of it, fading, fading, gone.
The street was quiet again.
Zane stood in the center of it, his cheek bleeding, his heart pounding, his mind struggling to process what his eyes had seen. Across from him, the figure of light turned. She had no face that he could see, but he felt her attention settle on him, felt the weight of her presence like a hand on his shoulder.
"You need to start training."
Her voice was calm. Not urgent. Not frightened. The voice of someone who had seen this moment coming for a very long time.
"What," he managed. His voice cracked. "What was that?"
"A devourer." She said the word like it was something she had said before, many times, in many places. "Stage two."
He stared at her. "Stage two."
"There are ten stages. The higher the stage, the stronger they become. Stage two is barely more than an animal. Instinct. Hunger. No strategy, no patience." She paused. "The ones that come next will be worse."
Zane looked at his friends. Noah was on the ground, his arm twisted beneath him, his face pale. Marcus was kneeling beside him, his hands hovering, uncertain. Danielle was standing frozen, her phone still in her hand, her eyes fixed on the space where the creature had been.
They had not seen it. They had not seen any of it.
"They can't see you," he said. "They couldn't see it."
"The devourers exist on a frequency most humans cannot perceive. They are drawn to the Eternal Force. To you." Her light dimmed slightly, as though she were trying to be less overwhelming. "The devourers have begun to sense your presence. Stage two was sent to confirm. The next will come to kill."
He wanted to ask more. He wanted to know what a devourer was, where it came from, and why it wanted him dead. But Noah was groaning on the ground, his arm bent wrong, and Marcus was calling for help, and Danielle was finally moving, running toward the work crew, shouting for someone to call an ambulance.
"We need to get him help," Zane said.
"He will receive help. But you will not be here when it arrives."
She stepped forward. Her hand closed around his arm, and her grip was light and warm and absolute.
"Wait—"
"There is no time to wait. The devourers know where you are now. Stage three will be here within the hour."
He tried to pull away, but her grip did not yield. "My sister. I need to get my sister."
"You will. I will take you to her. But you must pack. You must say goodbye. And then you must leave."
He looked at Marcus, at Noah, at the street where the creature had been, at the blood still drying on his fingers. His world was fracturing again, the seams of normal pulling apart, and he could not find the words to hold it together.
"How long?" he asked.
Her light pulsed once, a heartbeat made visible.
"Six months."