Chapter 1 - The Hunters in the Dark
The millionaire did not push her hand away. Instead, his breathing hitched as the faded blue fabric pressed against his temple.
"Magic," he rasped, his voice sounding like crushed gravel. "I could use some magic right now."
"Hold it tight," Lily instructed, her small voice trying to mimic the stern nurses she used to see at the free clinic.
Suddenly, the millionaire’s hand shot out, gripping Lily’s thin wrist with surprising, desperate strength. His clear blue eyes widened, darting toward the barn doors.
"Listen to me, Lily," he choked out. "The crash... it wasn't an accident. They cut the brake lines. They are coming to finish the job."
Lily’s blood ran cold. She knew about bad men. Oakridge was full of them. But before she could ask who they were, the sweeping beams of heavy-duty flashlights cut through the cracks of the barn’s wooden planks. The crunch of heavy boots echoed over the dying storm outside.
"Hide," he whispered fiercely, pushing a heavy, gold signet ring into her tiny palm. "Take this. If I don't make it, show this to the police in the city. Now run!"
But Lily didn't run. Invisibility was her superpower.
She grabbed a rusted tarp and threw it over the crushed hood of the SUV to block the hissing steam. Then, she grabbed the millionaire’s shoulders and, with strength born of pure terror, helped him slide out of the seat and down into the muddy maintenance pit beneath the floorboards.
She covered the pit with rotten hay just as the barn doors were kicked open.
Two men in black raincoats stepped in, guns drawn. Lily shrank into the rafters above, holding her breath until her lungs burned.
"Car's empty," one man growled, kicking the bumper. "Bleeding out, but he's not here. Spread out. Arthur Sterling couldn't have gone far."
Arthur Sterling. Lily memorized the name.
The men searched for ten agonizing minutes. One man's boot hovered inches above the hidden pit. But eventually, the storm's howl masked Arthur’s ragged breathing, and the assassins turned back into the night.
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Lily dropped from the rafters, hands shaking. She pulled the hay back. Arthur was unconscious, his skin pale as moonlight. The magic cloth was soaked red.
[END OF CHAPTER 1 HOOK] 👉 Lily knew he would die before morning. She had to do the unthinkable: break her only rule and go to the one place in town more dangerous than the streets.
