47

47

ANNALISE

Adrian sat across from me, the old leather-bound book spread open between us. His fingers traced the worn pages with a reverence I hadn’t seen in him before. The room was dimly lit, with only a flickering candle casting shadows on the walls. I could sense his excitement, but I could also feel the tension in the air. Something about what he had discovered weighed heavily on him.

“Annalise,” he began, his voice calm but serious, “this is more than just a fight for survival. It’s… it’s part of something bigger.”

I glanced at him, my heart beating faster. The past few weeks had been a whirlwind of confusion, discoveries, and unsettling realizations. I didn’t know who I really was, not fully. And every time I thought I was close to understanding, something new appeared to pull me deeper into this mystery.

He pointed to a passage in the book, the text written in an ancient script. “There’s a prophecy. It talks about a guardian, a woman, who must defeat her enemies to break a cyc