The morning sun had filled my apartment, pouring through the windows in bright, slanted beams that warmed the floorboards and turned floating dust motes into specks of gold.

Day one of the thirty had begun. The air felt warm against my skin as I stepped out, the read note was in my pocket like an unanswered question. The awakening was closing in fast, and my purpose was to stop it, but I was also a CGI agent who had to report for work.

I was locking my door, key turning with a soft metallic click, when voices drifted down from the floors above. I recognized Carrise’s instantly, light, easy, familiar.

I had just reached the stairs when she appeared from above, heels clicking on the steps. Our eyes met and she smiled, bright and unguarded.

[Carrise Vale. Marked.]

[She feels attraction to no man but you. She responds to your direction.]

The text registered fast. Then my eyes went to the woman beside her.

A face I’d first met at School Central, late at night, with teeth at my throat.

[Celestine Vale. Primordial female. Unmarked.]

So this is the sister, I thought. What a reunion.

Celestine stood there with the same striking presence I remembered. Her brown hair fell in smooth, glossy waves past her shoulders, catching the hallway light with subtle chestnut highlights. Her face was beautiful in a sharp, almost dangerous way — high cheekbones, full lips, and pale skin that looked almost luminous under the morning glow.

She wore a sleek black dress that hugged her figure, the fabric expensive and perfectly tailored, ending just above her knees. On her finger glinted an extravagant green diamond ring, the stone catching the light in deep emerald flashes with every small movement of her hand.

Celestine’s eyes found mine and something sharp moved behind them. The warning she’d left in my ear that night still echoed: Make sure our paths never cross again.

They were crossing now.

"Hey, Bram," Carrise said, her voice warm as she reached the landing.

"Hey."

Celestine looked between us, catching that we already knew each other. Her gaze settled on me with the old edge still in it, cool and assessing.

"Lecitie, this is Bram." Carrise turned to her sister with easy affection. "The boyfriend I told you about." She turned back to me, smiling. "Bram, my sister. Celestine."

Celestine smiled. Slow, controlled, the kind that never reached the rest of her face. Her eyes stayed locked on mine as she extended her hand, the green diamond flashing.

"Nice to meet you, Bram," she said, her voice carrying the same dangerous silk from that School Central night.

Her hand was cold. Long black nails. Skin smooth and pale.

"Nice to meet you," I said. *Again.* "Celestine."

"I like him already," she murmured as we let go, her eyes never leaving mine.

Another Vale woman. Another name the system had just placed in front of me.

"I’ve heard a lot about you," I said, watching the easy smile still on Carrise’s face. She had no idea what was passing between her sister and me.

"No you haven’t," Celestine replied, voice low enough that only I could hear.

"Oh." Carrise stepped into the silence without reading it. "I forgot something upstairs. I’ll be right back."

She turned and climbed the stairs, heels clicking sharply until the sound faded above us.

Celestine and I stayed still on the landing. Then her eyes came back to me, darker now, calculating.

Make sure our paths never cross again, she had said that night, teeth marks fresh in my neck.

She moved her gaze across me slowly, studying every detail like something that wasn’t behaving the way it should. I held her gaze.

"So you’re telling me this is a coincidence," Celestine said, closing the distance with slow, deliberate steps. Her black dress whispered against her thighs, the expensive fabric catching the hallway light in subtle shifts of shadow and sheen. The large green diamond on her finger flashed like a predator’s eye with every movement.

[Celestine responds to dominance. Aggression may serve the marking.]

Noted.

"The first time, you were out at Central in hours you had no business being out." She reached me and ran a long black nail slowly along the side of my neck, the sharp edge scraping lightly over my skin. "Coincidence. And now, out of everyone inside these walls, my sister ends up with you."

She circled me like a shark, brown hair swaying across her pale shoulders, the scent of something dark and expensive trailing behind her. "Do you want to die?" she asked, leaning in close enough that her breath brushed my ear.

[Make your move.]

I put a hand on her shoulder. She moved like lightning — a blur of black fabric and pale skin — and suddenly I was the one slammed against the wall. Her forearm pressed hard across my chest, pinning me. Her teeth were bared in a flash of intimidation, lips pulled back, eyes burning with cold fury.

"I’m going to give you two optio—"

I didn’t let her finish. I caught her shoulders, twisted with sudden force, and spun her around. In one smooth motion I pressed her back against the wall, my body crowding hers, forearm mirroring the pressure she had just used on me. She fought it at first — hard, violent twists of her hips and shoulders — but then something shifted. She relaxed against the wall, breathing slowing, eyes locking onto mine with a new, uncertain intensity.

"Don’t ever threaten me again," I said, voice low and even, my face close enough to her neck that I could feel the warmth of her skin. "Never try it."

I held her there, the green diamond on her finger catching the light between us like a warning.

[Good. You have her attention now.]

"What are you?" she whispered, quiet now, the same question she had asked the night her teeth had been in my neck. Something flickered behind her eyes — not the pure threat from before, but something more uncertain, almost curious.

Then heels clicked on the stairs above. Carrise coming back down.

"You want to know what I am," I said against her ear, my voice barely above a breath. "Stay another night. You’ll have your answers."

I let her go. She moved instantly, smoothing her dress with one hand, stepping back into the exact spot where Carrise had left her, composure sliding back into place like nothing had happened.

Carrise came down into view, smiling brightly as she reached the landing. I had a full day waiting, the note and its unexplained words, Mary Stam at CGI, Bala’s dangerous offer to move against the walls.

"I’ll be heading out," I told Carrise the moment she reached the floor.