CHAPTER 30: A NEW DIMENSION

Metal clashed behind us,the soldiers were faster than we thought. Their horns had already called twice, each one closer than the last.

Rhea led the way, her blade drawn low. Vesper stayed tight at her side, ready with bones in her fist and Selendra’s tail flicked behind us like a whip as she moved.

I stumbled once on loose dirt but caught myself. The charm at my chest hummed louder with every step but Alma was still silent.

"Left," Rhea hissed, pointing toward a rock wall half-covered with ivy.

We followed,boots pounded behind us. The soldiers shouted orders, their dogs baying.

Rhea didn’t slow. She ran straight to what looked like a plain wooden door built into the wall of stone. I almost shouted at her...there shouldn’t be doors in cliffs. But she grabbed the handle and shoved it open.

"Inside, now!"

We pushed through. Selendra caught my arm and pulled me the last step before the door slammed shut behind us.

The air changed. Warmer. Thicker. The smell of incense and smoke filled my nose. When I blinked, we weren’t in the woods anymore.

We stood in the middle of a narrow street lined with strange lamps that glowed green. Stalls crowded the edges, selling things I couldn’t name. The people walking past weren’t human. Some had scales, some had horns, some looked like animals standing upright. Others were slim, too slim, with eyes too large.

I turned back. The door we’d come through was gone. Only a blank wall of red stone stood there now.

"What... the hell?" I whispered.

Rhea’s shoulders stiffened. "We walked through a gate."

"A city gate," Selendra said, smiling like she’d expected this. "But not one built for humans."

The street buzzed with life. A woman with four arms carried a basket balanced on her horns. Two reptilian men argued in front of a stall where smoke poured out of clay pots. A child with skin like glass skipped past, holding a toy that pulsed like a heart.

None of them cared that we had just appeared from nowhere.

I kept my hand over the charm. "Alma?" I whispered inside my head. Nothing. No hum, no reply. Only silence.

Selendra slid up close, too close. Her tail brushed my hip as she leaned in, her voice low. "Still quiet, isn’t she? All the more reason to keep me."

I stepped back. "I don’t want you. I only want Alma as my system."

Her smile sharpened. "And yet, you’re mine now. Whether you like it or not."

Rhea shoved her aside. "You’re despicable. You used him. Trapped him."

Selendra didn’t even look offended. She tilted her head, tail curling behind her. "Call it what you want. A succubus who mates with a human is bound. That’s the law of my kind. He is my master now—not just for survival, not just for power, but for pleasure."

My stomach twisted. "I don’t care. I don’t want that. I don’t want you."

Her grin widened. "It doesn’t matter. It’s a curse, little host. Like a vampire bound to the one who turned them. No breaking it. No undoing it. I serve you until I’m dust."

Rhea’s jaw tightened. "Then we’ll find a way to break it."

Selendra laughed, low and shameless. "You can all turn against me, but you’ll learn fast...I’m not leaving his side."

I opened my mouth to argue again, but the crowd around us suddenly shifted. Stalls rattled. Shouts rose.

Someone ran past us, shoving bodies aside. A cloak of deep teal snapped in the air. The figure moved fast, light on his feet, dressed not for battle but for court. As he passed, his hood slipped just enough to show part of his face. Young,sharp. A smirk cut across his lips as his eyes flicked toward us.

Behind him came the ones chasing...thugs with bodies shaped like men but skin like scaled leather. Their nails curved like claws. Their eyes were yellow slits. They hissed as they ran.

The crowd scattered. Rhea raised her blade. Vesper’s rings glowed faintly. I froze, one hand on the charm.

Selendra licked her lips. "Oh, this will be interesting."

The crowd slowly settled again. Voices rose and fell around us, vendors barking prices, children laughing, the smell of cooked meat carried through the strange air. Rhea kept her sword close, eyes scanning for soldiers that never came. Vesper stayed at her side, quiet, calculating.

I pressed my palm against the charm under my shirt. It throbbed faintly, warm but mute. Alma. Please, say something.

Nothing.

I swallowed, frustration burning in my throat. The silence was worse than if she mocked me.

"We need food," Rhea muttered. "If this place is a city, we blend. Act like we belong. Then we move."

Selendra leaned into me, her smile shameless. "Food stalls are everywhere. Let me pick,I know flavors you’ve never tasted."

"Stay off me," I snapped.

Her tail brushed my leg deliberately before she stepped ahead, hips swaying. "You’ll come around. Hunger always wins."

Rhea glared daggers at her, but we followed anyway.

The street was alive in ways I couldn’t process. Some stalls looked almost normal...flatbread puffing on hot stones, skewers of spiced meat sizzling over coals, nuts roasted in pans. Others looked... wrong. A woman with too many eyes poured glowing liquid into cups that steamed blue. A horned man turned wriggling larvae on a spit, brushing them with thick green sauce. One table displayed pastries that moved, their crusts twitching as if breathing.

I forced myself to look away, sticking close to the stalls with food that smelled like actual food.

Rhea bought skewers of roasted meat with a coin Selendra passed her. The vendor barely looked at us, too busy haggling with a reptilian customer. Vesper secured flatbread wrapped in cloth, tucking it into her satchel.

I hesitated, staring at the meat. My stomach cramped with hunger. I hadn’t eaten properly since before the ritual in the cave.

Selendra plucked a piece from the skewer and held it up between two fingers. "Here, host. I’ll feed you."

I snatched it from her and bit down, chewing hard just to shut her up. It was greasy, salty, and exactly what my body needed.

Her laugh curled around me like smoke. "See? You take from me whether you admit it or not."

"Alma," I whispered again, gripping the charm so tight it dug into my palm. "Don’t leave me with her."

Still nothing.

Rhea tore into her own skewer and spoke low. "Keep moving. Don’t linger too long in one place. Outsiders stand out when they stare."

We drifted past more stalls, blending into the steady stream of buyers. A girl with furred ears tried to sell us fruit that bled dark juice when cut. A man with scales down his neck waved jars full of twitching organs. Vesper shook her head each time, pulling me along before I could react.

For a moment it almost felt normal. Eating, walking, pretending. I almost let myself breathe...

Then the crowd shifted.

Voices rose, not with trade but alarm. A stall toppled, jars shattering. People scattered, pulling children back.

I turned just as someone burst through the line of merchants.

He was fast, too fast, his teal cloak flashing as he moved. His clothes weren’t armor, but they weren’t poor either..fitted, clean, trimmed with silver thread. Not soldier’s gear. Something sharper. Something princely.

He dodged past a horned man, vaulted a cart with one hand, never losing stride. His hood shadowed most of his face..until it slipped.

My breath almost stopped..A young man, maybe a year or two older than me. Sharp jaw, eyes alive with something between mischief and challenge. He smirked as his gaze locked on me,not on the crowd,on me.

Then the hood fell back into place, and he was gone, swallowed by bodies.

The crowd screamed as the ones chasing him appeared. Six men, shaped like humans but scaled like crocodiles, yellow eyes burning, claws scraping stone. They hissed, driving people aside as they pursued.

Rhea raised her sword,Vesper’s rings gleamed and Selendra’s grin widened.

I just froze, my palm pressed flat against the charm.

The smirk wouldn’t leave my head.