⸻

Raine did not sleep that night. That was not unusual. What was unusual was spending most of it watching his bedroom floor because he was afraid his shadow might move again. It didn't. Of course it didn't. Because shadows did not move. They were shadows. That was their entire fucking purpose. Light existed. Something blocked it. Shadow. End of scientific explanation. No ancient gods required.

Raine lay across his bed with his guitar beside him, staring at the ceiling. 2:43 A.M. He should sleep. Instead, he played the same progression for what was probably the hundredth time. Noah's progression. Except Noah had played the third chord wrong. Raine had informed him of this. Noah disagreed. Noah was wrong. Obviously. Raine changed it. Better. He played it again. Then added his own progression underneath. Bright. Dark. Bright. Dark. Light fighting shadow.

Raine stopped playing. His eyes drifted toward the corner of the room. Nothing. Normal darkness. His mother hadn't spoken to him since the hallway. Since— Monster. Raine swallowed. Dinner hadn't happened. He had eaten cereal straight from the box and avoided the upstairs hallway entirely.

There were times when loving his mother felt like trying to hug broken glass. Technically possible. Just difficult to do without bleeding. Raine hated himself for thinking that. Because he loved her. Obviously. She was his mother. And she wasn't always like this. There had been good days. Good years, even. She had taught him his first guitar chord. She had made dinosaur pancakes when he was six. She had stayed beside him all night when he had the flu. She had once told him he had the prettiest singing voice she had ever heard.

Those memories counted. They had to. Otherwise— Raine stopped that thought before it finished forming. His phone lit up beside him. A notification. Unknown number. He frowned.

'Your version of the third chord is worse.'

Raine stared at the message. Then sat upright. Another appeared.

'Before you ask, Maya gave me your number.'

Raine narrowed his eyes. He typed:

'Traitor.'

Three dots appeared immediately.

'Me or Maya?'

'Both.'

'Harsh.'

Raine stared at the screen. Despite himself, he smiled.

'Also my chord is better.'

'Objectively false.'

'You literally changed it because you liked mine.'

'I changed it because yours offended me.'

'You're thinking about my music at 2:47 in the morning.'

Raine stopped. Asshole. He glanced at the time. 2:47. Then typed:

'You're texting me at 2:47 in the morning.'

'Couldn't sleep.'

Raine's fingers paused.

'Same.'

A few seconds passed.

'Everything okay?'

There it was. Raine stared at the question. He could answer yes. Easy. Automatic. Instead:

'My mom is being weird.'

'Weird how?'

Raine looked toward his bedroom door.

'Normal weird.'

'That sounds concerning.'

'You don't know her.'

'That's why I'm asking.'

Raine's throat tightened. He hated that.

'She's fine.

Then, because sincerity apparently had an eight-second expiration date:

'She's just deeply committed to giving me interesting material for therapy one day.'

The typing bubble appeared. Disappeared. Appeared again.

'You joke when you don't want to answer something.'

Raine went still. His smile disappeared. He read it again. Who the fuck did Noah think he was? They had known each other for one day. Not even a whole day.

'You psychoanalyze everybody you meet?'

'No.'

A pause.

'Just noticed.'

Something uncomfortable settled beneath Raine's ribs. Not bad. That would have been easier. Warm. Raine hated warm. Warm made people stay. He put his phone down. Then picked it back up.

'Go to sleep, Santiago.'

'You first, Graves.'

'Die.'

'Goodnight to you too.'

Raine rolled his eyes. Another message appeared.

'Tomorrow?'

He stared at it. The music room. The song. Noah. Tomorrow suddenly seemed slightly less unbearable. Tomorrow. Raine locked his phone. The room went dark. A minute passed. Then two. Eventually his eyes closed. Beneath the desk, his shadow moved. He did not see it.

⸻

Morning arrived violently. Raine woke to his alarm screaming beside his head. He slapped blindly at the nightstand. Missed. Slapped again. His phone hit the floor.

"Fuck."

7:02. Four hours of sleep. Technically an improvement. He dragged himself upright. The guitar rested beside him. Noah's progression immediately entered his head. Annoying.

Raine got dressed. Black ripped jeans. Cropped band tee. Red jacket. The usual. When he stepped into the hallway, his mother's bedroom door was closed. He stopped outside it.

"Mom?"

Nothing. He raised his hand to knock. Stopped. Monster. His hand dropped.

"I'm going to school."

Silence. Raine swallowed.

"Love you."

Nothing. He started downstairs.

"Raine."

He stopped. His mother stood at the top of the staircase. She looked worse than yesterday. Same clothes. Red eyes. Cross around her neck. Raine looked at her.

"Hey."

Her eyes moved over him. Hair. Face. Clothes. Then his eyes.

"What?"

She shook her head.

"Nothing."

Raine waited.

"I'm going to school."

"I heard you."

"Okay."

He took another step.

"Is he there?"

Raine stopped. His fingers tightened around the railing.

"Who?"

"The boy."

His stomach dropped.

"What boy?"

Her expression hardened.

"Don't lie to me."

Raine turned fully toward her.

"How do you know about Noah?"

The second he said the name, her face went pale. Actually pale. Raine's stomach twisted.

"Mom?"

She stepped backward.

"No."

"What?"

"No."

"What the fuck is happening?"

"Don't say that."

"Then answer me."

"Raine—"

"Who is Dad?"

Her eyes widened.

"Stop."

"No."

His voice shook.

"You've had seventeen years."

"Raine."

"Seventeen fucking years to tell me anything."

"Stop!"

The hallway lights flickered. Both froze. Raine's anger disappeared. His mother stared behind him. At the stairs. At the floor. Raine did not want to look. He did anyway. His shadow stretched halfway up the staircase. Toward her. His breath stopped. His mother made a small, broken noise. Raine stepped left. The shadow shifted with him. Right. It followed. Not like a shadow. Like something alive.

"What the fuck?"

His mother began praying. Raine barely heard her. Blood rushed in his ears. The darkness climbed another step.

"Stop."

It stopped. Raine froze. So did his mother. No. No fucking way.

"Move."

Nothing. Raine stared.

"Move."

The darkness rippled. Raine stumbled backward and nearly fell. His mother started crying. He grabbed the railing.

"Tell me what's happening."

She shook her head.

"Mom."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"You know why."

"The promise?"

Her eyes closed.

"To my father?"

Silence. That was enough. Again. Raine grabbed his backpack. He ran.

"Raine!"

He didn't stop. He slammed the front door behind him.

⸻

Noah knew something was wrong the second he saw him the next morning. Raine was sitting outside the school instead of inside. Elbows on his knees. Earbuds in. No music playing. Noah slowed. He had spent most of the night telling himself he was going to treat today like an assignment. Observe. Protect. Do not get attached.

Then he saw Raine. And every carefully organized thought disappeared. He approached slowly. Raine looked up. For half a second, something that looked suspiciously like relief crossed his face. Then it vanished.

"Sunshine."

Noah stopped. That was new.

"Dracula."

Raine rolled his eyes.

"Still not funny."

"Objectively hilarious."

Noah sat beside him. Raine did not tell him to leave. That alone told Noah more than he wanted to know. They sat in silence for nearly a minute. Noah forced himself not to ask. Eventually, Raine spoke.

"My shadow moved."

Noah went completely still. Raine stared straight ahead.

"This morning."

Noah said nothing.

"It moved when I told it to."

Fuck. Noah kept his face as neutral as possible. Raine gave a humorless laugh.

"So either I'm losing my fucking mind, or I'm apparently a Disney villain now."

"You're not losing your mind."

The words escaped before Noah could stop them. Raine turned.

"What?"

Shit. Noah thought quickly.

"I saw what happened yesterday."

Raine stared.

"You saw that?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"You looked freaked out."

"So?"

"So I figured saying, 'Hey, man, your shadow just tried to eat you,' probably wasn't going to help."

Raine looked away. Noah watched him. For one dangerous second, he almost told him everything. Soteria. The gods. Demigods. The Oracle. All of it.

But Raine already looked like he had been handed one impossible thing too many. And Noah had been explicitly told to observe. So he stood.

"Come on."

Raine frowned.

"Where?"

"Music room."

"School hasn't started."

"Exactly."

Raine looked at him.

"You're a bad influence."

Noah held out his hand.

"You copied a key to the instrument cabinet."

"That's different."

"How?"

"I did it first."

Noah laughed. Raine stared at the offered hand for a second. Then took it. Noah pulled him upright. Their hands remained together half a second longer than necessary. Neither mentioned it.

⸻

They finished the first verse before homeroom. It wasn't good. Not yet. But it existed. Raine sat cross-legged on the floor with his notebook balanced against one knee. Noah leaned against the piano with a guitar.

"Again," Raine said.

Noah played. Raine sang. Stopped.

"No."

"What?"

"That word sucks."

"You wrote it."

"Past me was stupid."

"Past you was four minutes ago."

"He's dead to me."

Noah laughed. Raine scratched through the line.

"What rhymes with light?"

"Night."

"I'll kill you."

"Fight."

"I hate you."

"Bite."

Raine looked up. Noah grinned.

"Dracula."

Raine threw the pencil. Noah ducked. It bounced off the piano.

"You're violent."

"You deserve it."

Noah picked up the pencil. When he handed it back, Raine was smiling. Actually smiling. Not the little sarcastic twitch Noah usually got. Something real. It transformed his entire face. Noah stared. Raine noticed.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You keep doing that."

"Doing what?"

"Looking at me like that."

Noah's fingers tightened around the pencil.

"Like what?"

Raine opened his mouth. Then stopped. For once, apparently, he didn't have an answer. Noah handed him the pencil. Their fingers brushed. Warm. Again. Noah pulled away first. Rule. One of the important ones. No demigods.

Except Raine wasn't a demigod. Not officially. Noah didn't know that. Nobody knew that. Shadows moving didn't prove anything. The Oracle didn't prove anything. The bells didn't prove anything. Coincidences happened. Raine Graves could still be mortal.

Noah knew how stupid that sounded. He believed it anyway. Because believing anything else meant admitting that whatever this was— whatever had begun yesterday between guitar chords and insults— already had an expiration date. And Noah Santiago did not do expiration dates. He looked down at the guitar.

"Again?"

Raine smiled.

"Again."

Noah played. Raine sang. And beneath Raine's crossed legs, unnoticed by either of them, his shadow stretched slowly toward Noah. It stopped when it reached the sunlight touching his shoe. Neither boy saw it. But this time— the darkness did not retreat. It simply waited.