Annabelle just stared at her. This girl... This girl was built different. She swore, Evelyn was meant to be an angel or something, not a descendant of an Origin Family.
"I don’t understand you two," Annabelle muttered, flipping her hair back. "Maya is obsessively in love with my cousin despite his past looks and weaknesses. Like, obsessively—obsessively."
Evelyn chuckled, light and warm, like Annabelle had just said something cute instead of, y’know, factually insane. "You can’t blame Maya for that… You know those two... what they’re supposed to be, don’t you?"
Annabelle rolled her eyes.
"And unlike him," Evelyn continued, "Maya’s known since she was young. Even without that, she still would’ve been in love with him regardless. And don’t even get me started on the fact that she took it upon herself to protect him before he awakened."
"I know all that and more," Annabelle groaned, waving a hand dismissively. "Too bad he awakened away from her. If it had happened sooner, they would’ve done ’it’ by now."
Evelyn’s lips curled in amusement, but there was something else there—something sharp and knowing. "I know," she said. "And Parker doesn’t know anything. Maya probably saw this coming. That’s why she’s been onto him since they were young. Why she later gave up on stopping you guys from ’doing it.’ Because it was the only hope for his awakening."
Annabelle’s smirk was downright wicked. "Oh, I know." Then her eyes gleamed, and she tilted her head, voice going just a little too casual. "But what about you, Evelyn?"
Evelyn blinked. "What about me?"
Annabelle’s smirk widened. "I know your secret, too." Evelyn’s entire body went still.
"Luckily for you," Annabelle continued smoothly, "I won’t be telling Maya." A pause. "But… what will you do if everyone in the Circle finds out? I bet Vivian wouldn’t hesitate to take your head."
At the mention of Vivian, Evelyn’s angelic everything cracked—like a single, lethal chisel to her perfect facade. She turned to Annabelle with wide eyes, all that golden warmth flickering with something very, very close to panic. "Annabelle—"
Annabelle grinned, looking way too pleased with herself.
"I swear I’ll do anything for you," Evelyn whispered, voice barely above a breath. "Just don’t let that monster find out."
Annabelle tapped her chin, pretending to think. Then she flashed a devious little smirk. "You’re too easy to manipulate, Evelyn," she teased, voice dripping with amusement. "Don’t worry—that’s my specialty." Anabelle could understand why Evelyn was scared of Vivian finding out than the whole Circle finding out. Who didn’t fear her?
****
The figure moved like a shadow, silent, fluid, barely disturbing the air as it streaked through the school corridors. Not a single step out of place, not a single sound out of rhythm. It was all instinct. Precision. Purpose.
It stopped—just for a second. Inhaled deeply. The scent it was following curled in its lungs, sharp and distinct. A hum of something more laced in between the teenage sweat, perfume, and cheap cologne that filled the air. And just like that, it was gone again, a blur, weaving through the hallways so fast that if anyone had seen, they would’ve thought their eyes were playing tricks on them.
Then it reached its destination.
Senior Hall.
It stopped just outside Class A, lingering in the shadowed corner of the hallway. Eyes narrowing. Adjusting. Locking onto something.
A desk.
At first glance, just like any other in the room. Neat, organized, with a sleek black iPhone 16 resting on top. But then the screen lit up—buzzing from a new message. And for a split second, the wallpaper shined through the glow. A cat. Black. Sleek. Golden eyes that looked too sharp, too intelligent, too alive.
The figure’s gaze darkened, something inside it clicking in place.
And then it’s eyes settled on her, only her...
The rest of the classroom faded away. Blurred into meaningless figures and background noise. Nothing else mattered except the girl sitting at that desk.
She was focused, eyes locked on the lecture, posture straight, absorbing every word like it was second nature. But there was something in her expression—something in the sharp cut of her gaze—that made it clear she wasn’t like the rest of them. There was depth there. An intelligence that shouldn’t belong in a high school classroom.
She was warm, too. In a way that made the cold feel like an outsider. The kind of warmth that didn’t come from innocence but from something earned.
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Loyalty.
A dangerous kind of loyalty.
The figure grinned, teeth gleaming, something wicked curling at the edges of its lips.
It had found her.
It had found her.
And oh… what a beautiful thing she was. Something worth killing for.
The figure grinned.
Not a normal grin. No, this was something... wrong. Something stretched too wide, something teetering on the edge of madness.
Obsession.
The figure suddenly flickered, its form sputtering like a dying lightbulb on the verge of burnout. Its edges warped, glitching in and out, its whole existence feeling like it was about to collapse. For the first time, a sliver of panic crept into its usually controlled demeanor. It wasn’t just running out of time—something was coming. Something that could see past this disguise, something that could tear through this feeble projection like paper in a storm. It wasn’t just about being seen—it was about being exposed.
But even in that moment of realization, there was no frantic retreat, no reckless scrambling. Enjoy more content from freewebnovel
Just a swift, practiced exit. It had done this before. It had slipped away before. It knew how to disappear without a trace.
The moment the unseen presence drew closer, the figure moved—not with hesitation, not with fear, but with purpose. It tilted its head as if silently acknowledging the inevitable, then melted into the walls, dissolving into the cascading darkness of the shadows like it had never been there in the first place. The air settled. The flicker was gone.
The world returned to normal.
And then Evelyn and Annabelle arrived outside the class.
Annabelle let out a long-ass sigh, hands on her hips like she had just conquered a fucking kingdom. She turned to Evelyn, shaking her head with that familiar, dramatic grin that meant she was about to say something either incredibly stupid or weirdly deep.
But...