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Despite the darkness, I can feel him as he gets closer; the urge to flee or throw up, maybe both, hits me hard enough that my stomach cramps, and I wonder if I can throw up in a dream. I guess we’re about to find out.

‘Call your mother,’ Theo hisses in my mind and suddenly I feel as though I’m falling and Theo’s gone.

I jerk awake, flying up in the bed to look around Garrett’s room, my heart hammering in my chest, sweat dripping down my face.

Was that real?

It sure as hell felt like it…

‘The calm before the storm.’ A term I’ve read in books but never really understood, mostly because up until now, I’m pretty sure I was the storm.

Three months have passed, and my father has been quiet. All traces of him and Lyle have vanished, and not even I can find them. We’ve spent many nights trying to track Lyle down, to see if he has any response to Serena’s shadows, but it’s as if he’s disappeared.

I wish I could believe that he’s given up the way others do, but I know better.

My father is a monster, an even bigger one than me. He chose power over everything, even his own blood, and has killed hundreds of people in hopes of getting his hands on Serena, in hopes that she will make him even more powerful.

The crazy thing is, he’s already powerful. But it will never be enough. Even if he managed to get her, it wouldn’t be long before he wanted more; he’s an addict.

He can’t stop.

Which is why we need to stop him.

“Hey, you okay?” Serena’s voice pulls me from my thoughts, and I realize I’d completely zoned out. The sounds of everyone in the main hall comes back in a rush. People eat and enjoy each other's company while I’d been sitting here staring at my potatoes for far too long.

I shake my head, blinking a few times before I look up and meet Serena’s eyes as she watches me, eyes full of concern I don’t deserve.

That seems to be a running theme here, though. Everything with Serena is too good to be true.

“He’s just worried I’m going to kick his ass tomorrow,” Pike says with a laugh, bumping his shoulder into mine, and that’s enough to break the tension.

“As if. I’m convinced he cheats. He and Rena both do,” Storm grumbles, pointing at me and then Serena with his fork.

I wait for Serena’s comeback; she’s really good at keeping this group in place. She doesn’t take any crap and can be more than a little scary when she needs to be.

Instead, she remains quiet, her gaze burning into the side of my face with such intensity I can feel it even without looking her way.

I turn toward her, but instead of her deep, soulful blue eyes, I’m met with pure black. Her shadows are much stronger now than when we first met, and while she might not have full control, she trusts in them. Unfortunately, she has so much power, I’m unsure she’ll ever be able to handle it all. It took me years, and I only have a fraction of what I feel from her.

It’s no wonder my father wants her so badly.

“Something’s wrong.” Her voice is quiet, hardly more than a breath, to ensure that we’re the only ones who hear her.

“Wh—” Garrett snaps his mouth shut, cutting himself off as both Serena and I hop to our feet and race out of the main hall.

I feel it too, though I have no idea whatitis. It’s there, like a nagging feeling in my mind or a pit in my stomach.

We make it out into the garden, the sound of the others behind us, their heavy footfalls echoing off the high ceilings. Serena stops dead, and I almost run into her. Skidding to the side, I miss her by less than an inch, but she doesn’t notice.

“What’s going on?” Sol asks, and I hear the concern in his tone, but I can’t answer him. I can feel that something is wrong, but I can’t put my finger on it, can’t pinpoint what it is.

Serena stands in the center of the garden, eyes closed, as still as one of the many statues decorating the area, as we stand and wait.

He’s coming. He’s coming, run, hide. He’s coming.

The urge to ask who is on the tip of my tongue, but I don’t need to.

I know.