When the bell stopped ringing, no one moved.

For a moment, the sound still hung in the air like thunder that refused to die. Then the air changed yet again.

The pressure that had been crawling under Lachlan’s skin all night suddenly vanished. His ears popped once. The lantern flame steadied. And everything was like a twisted dream they were just waking up from.

Zubair kept his weapon drawn, his shoulders tight as wire.

Elias still stared at the window, waiting for another knock on the door.

Alexei’s knife rested in his lap, edge gleaming, unmoving.

Sera sat cross-legged on the bed with Luci pressed against her knee. Her fingers toyed with the wolf’s ear, and she looked... almost happy.

There was a flush in her cheeks that wasn’t fear or adrenaline—it was satisfaction. Contentment, even.

Lachlan swallowed hard. His nerves felt like stretched glass ready to splinter, but her? She looked like she’d finally gotten some rest.

Then came a sound that snapped every weapon up again—a knock.

It was different this time. Dull wood, no echo, no distortion. The kind of sound doors were meant to make.

Sera tilted her head, curious instead of cautious.

Zubair warned, "Don’t—"

But she was already on her feet, bare and silent, the hem of her blood-streaked white dress dancing around her knees with every step forward.

"It’s fine," she said softly. "You can feel it too, can’t you? The change?"

Before anyone could argue, she opened the door.

Mae stood there, framed in gold light. Her curls shone like polished brass; her smile could’ve powered the whole town.

"Good morning!" she chirped, cheerful enough to make Lachlan’s teeth ache. "You made it through your first night."

Sera leaned on the doorframe, amused. "That was fast, for a night. It seemed like it was only an hour or so."

Mae’s grin widened. "The night only lasts as long as it needs to."

She gave a little approving hum, then reached out to brush a flake of dried blood from Sera’s shoulder. "But let’s get you out of that nightgown and into something that doesn’t look like a massacre, hmm?"

She turned her head toward the men. "Out. All of you. Give the lady a bit of decency."

Alexei didn’t move. "You think we’re leaving her alone after that?"

Mae’s tone didn’t change, but her eyes did—bright steel behind the warmth. "You think you could stop me from closing the door in your face?"

That did it. Zubair gave a curt nod, motioned to the hall. Lachlan followed the others out, though his gut protested every step.

The door shut behind them with a clean, final click.

-----

They waited in the hallway, lined up like a firing squad with nothing to shoot at.

Alexei leaned against the wall, sharpening his knife with slow, even strokes.

Elias flipped through his notes, the pages trembling slightly no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

Zubair stood at the window, arms crossed, eyes fixed on the church tower in the distance.

Lachlan tried not to listen through the door, failed immediately.

He could hear water running, the faint cadence of Mae’s humming. A sound like laughter followed—low and genuine.

Sera’s voice.

It didn’t happen often, and hearing it was... strange. Nice, but strange. Like watching snow fall in summer.

"She’s happier here," he muttered.

"Or more herself," Elias said without looking up.

"Same thing," Lachlan answered.

"No," Zubair said quietly from the window. "Happiness is a choice. Being yourself is a deeper understanding of what you want and need."

-----

Inside the room, Mae poured steaming water into a claw-foot basin.

The scent wasn’t soap. It was something older—wild mint and crushed petals, the kind of smell that made people remember forests they’d never seen.

"Arms up," Mae said lightly, helping Sera pull the ruined dress over her head. It fell to the floor in a soft, bloody puddle.

Sera glanced down at her bare skin. In this light, it was a lot easier to see her pale lavender color. She frowned briefly, tracing a finger along her collarbone where the light caught and her skin seemed to glow.

Even under all the blood, it was easy to see if you were looking for it.

She just guessed that most people weren’t.

Mae froze.

"Ah," she said softly, reaching up a hand to stroke Sera’s skin. "I haven’t seen a color like that in more years than I care to admit."

Sera met her eyes in the mirror. "You’ve seen this color before? Is it normal?" There were a lot of words left unsaid, but Mae didn’t back away.

Mae smiled, gentle but unreadable. "Normal’s a word humans made to feel safe. We don’t get to use it."

She took a small jar from the shelf, dipped her fingers into a cream that shimmered like moonlight and smoothed it all over Sera’s arms.

The blood disappeared in an instant.

"Don’t worry," Mae said with a wink as she continued to work. "It took me a few hundred years to perfect my skin. I’ll show you how to hide the purple if you don’t want anyone to see."

Sera arched a brow. "You look good for a few hundred years."

Mae laughed, warm and easy. "Flattery will get you everywhere. But I mean it. If you want to hide in the human world, you need a skin color they will accept. Anything less, and you will be labeled as an outsider and killed off. Blood remembers the songs we forget."

Sera cocked her head, watching her reflection. "I don’t understand."

"You will," Mae said. "Our kind always does."

"Our kind?"

Mae only smiled and offered her a folded bundle of clothes. "The bath water is ready and at a perfect temperature. Enjoy your bath and then get dressed, darling."

------

Outside, time crawled—or didn’t. Lachlan couldn’t tell.

The air felt wrong again, not dangerous, just off. Like the world was pretending to be calm.

Alexei stopped sharpening his blade long enough to say, "This town’s a cage."

Elias closed his book. "You sound sure."

Alexei’s expression didn’t change. "Because I recognize bars when I see them."

Lachlan exhaled. "Maybe some cages are safer than the wild."

"That’s what prey tells itself," Alexei said, and went back to his blade.

-----

When the door finally opened, the light spilling out was warm, golden, too bright for a place that shouldn’t have a sun.

Mae stepped out first, hands on her hips, looking pleased. "There now. Much better."

Sera followed—and for a second, Lachlan forgot to breathe.