“If you’ll excuse me,” she said, her voice smooth but slightly distracted. “Someone’s at the door.”
She turned to leave, but before she could reach it, one of the other guests -a tall man dressed in forest-green tones with a feathered mask to match- stepped forward and opened it for her. The act, performed with a theatrical flourish, caught the attention of those nearby. The man bowed low as the door swung open, revealing Dom, silhouetted against the soft white glow of the porch lights.
Ash’s breath hitched.
Dom was a vision, her tough biker edge tempered by the artistry of her masquerade mask. The handcrafted leather wings swept upward, framing her face, the thin silver spikes protruding like devilish horns that gave her an air of raw, untamed power. Her eyes gleamed from within the mask, practically glowing as they met Ash’s. The sharpness in Dom’s gaze was enough to make Ash swallow involuntarily, a flicker of unease tightening her chest.
The man in green extended his hand, which Dom accepted with an easy, almost regal grace. He escorted her inside, his manner attentive and reverent, as though she were royalty. But before he could bask in her presence for more than a fleeting moment, Dom had already disappeared into the crowded foyer, her movements swift and deliberate, a shadow slipping through the chaos.
The man looked around in bewilderment, disappointment etched on his face, before shrugging and merging back into the press of guests.
Ash, however, had been watching intently, her gaze never leaving Dom. Even with her heightened awareness, she’d lost track of her the moment she stepped inside. Ash’s stomach twisted -equal parts wariness and curiosity- and she turned on her heel, weaving through the crowd with fluid precision. Her pace was quick, though she forced herself to appear unhurried, her practiced poise masking the unease bubbling beneath her calm exterior.
She searched for Nile, hoping to find him amidst the throng of guests, but for some reason, she couldn’t pinpoint his location. Normally, she had no trouble sensing him -his presence was like a bright beacon, unmistakable once she’d locked onto it. Just as she’d known the moment Dom arrived, she should’ve been able to feel Nile’s presence too. But tonight, something was off. It was as though the tangled threads of energy she used to track them had been severed or obscured, leaving her blind in a way that was deeply unsettling.
For the first time in a long while, Ash felt… lost.
∞
The last time she’d felt this disoriented was when she first arrived in town. Back then, everything had felt chaotic, foreign.
Her first priority upon arriving had been to establish a base of operations. If she was going to be here for an indeterminate amount of time, she would do it in style. Using her considerable resources, including a discretionary budget that was more than generous, she chose a location that she was confident would allow her to blend in with the locals and her 'peers' -a property that ticked every box on her extensive list of requirements. It was private, luxurious, and strategically located, with plenty of space to accommodate her plans.
Once the estate was hers, she wasted no time. She hired staff, vetted every person who stepped onto the property, and ensured that every tool and resource she needed was at her disposal. Ash thrived on preparation, and she approached her mission with the same meticulous attention to detail.
The cover story she’d been given was a work of art, every detail meticulously crafted by the Network’s field operatives. Ash was supposed to be a wealthy but lonely teenager, living in a sprawling estate on the southern outskirts of Pasadena. Her “father,” a fictitious business mogul, was constantly away on trips, leaving her to fend for herself in their massive home. The story even included the obligatory note of tragedy: a mother who had abandoned her when she was just a baby, leaving her father to raise her alone.
She’d been drilled extensively on her persona’s history during the mission briefing, memorizing every fabricated detail until it felt almost real. Her father’s company, his habits, even her fictional childhood memories -it was all there, ready to be deployed if anyone asked too many questions. The recon team had done their job well; her credentials were impeccable. If she hadn’t known better, Ash might have started to believe the story herself.
But the truth was far less glamorous. The estate, while lavish and comfortable, was just another tool in her arsenal. The empty halls echoed with a loneliness she had no time to dwell on. There were no familial ties to the property, no sentimental connections. It was a base of operations, nothing more.
But even her methodical nature hadn’t prepared her for the challenge of navigating the city’s tangled web of ley lines.
From the moment she cast out her senses, she was overwhelmed. The energy in the area was unlike anything she’d encountered before. In her training, she’d been taught to expect a certain order to the lines of power that crisscrossed the earth -a spiderweb of energy, with nodes and intersections that followed predictable patterns. Places like Stonehenge, though powerful, were structured, their energies clean and precise.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Pasadena was nothing like that.
It had taken Ash far longer than she would have liked to unravel the chaotic tangle of ley lines crisscrossing the foothills and surrounding valley. The lines of power, usually elegant and orderly like a celestial web, were here an incomprehensible snarl, as if the threads of the earth’s energy had been deliberately knotted by some cosmic prankster.
Large knots radiated unstable energy, while smaller tangles hummed with their own chaotic rhythms, each one a potential hazard for anyone sensitive to such forces. Deciphering this mess was a headache of epic proportions, the kind that pressed against the base of the skull, sharp and insistent like a tooth ready to crack.
The naturally negative energy of the Los Angeles basin didn’t help matters. Centuries of human suffering, violence, and greed had seeped into the region’s very bones, staining its energy dark and oppressive. It was no wonder sensitives avoided the area whenever possible. The smoggy, electric buzz of the city carried an intangible weight, a psychic smothering that had driven weaker minds to madness.
But Ash wasn’t here to map the ley lines or solve their mysteries. She had one job: locate a single blip amidst the chaos. Somewhere in this jumbled web was a kink, a disturbance so small it could have been missed entirely by less diligent eyes. If she could find it, she’d be halfway done with her mission. Halfway to fulfilling the Director’s orders.
And yet, despite her focus, Ash couldn’t suppress a flicker of irritation as she thought about the intelligence report she’d been given before arriving. The Guardian Network’s briefing had been, at best, incomplete. Nowhere in their meticulous files had it mentioned how overwhelming this place would be -or how the psychic weight of the basin would press on her like a vise, twisting her focus and muddling her thoughts. It was one thing to read about negative energy; it was another to endure its constant, insidious presence.
Her instructions had been straightforward enough: locate the nascent, recruit them, and bring them to the University for assessment. If possible, she was to indoctrinate them gently, guiding them toward their purpose. If not… well, there were other methods. She could knock them out and deliver them to the Director’s doorstep like a package tied with a bow.
From there, the University would decide their fate. If they proved particularly promising during their training, they might even be invited to join the Guardians Network, as Ash herself had been. The thought brought a small, fleeting sense of pride. She had swiftly risen through the ranks, endured the trials, and earned her place. Now it was someone else’s turn.
Still, she wasn’t thrilled about the assignment’s constraints. She had 28 days to complete the task. If she failed to locate the nascent within that time frame, her mission would be reassigned to more experienced agents, and Ash would be sent back to the University under the Director’s all-seeing scrutiny -a failure.
The thought made her jaw tighten. This was her first solo mission, her chance to prove herself as more than just another cog in the machine. She had no intention of failing.
Only now, standing amidst the chaos of her own party, Ash couldn’t help but feel a pang of frustration. That same sense of clarity she’d achieved when first tracking Nile and Dom was now eluding her. The energies around her were too erratic, too jumbled, and for the first time in weeks, she felt a flicker of doubt.
What’s different about tonight? Why can’t I locate them? She thought.
She shook her head, trying to banish the uncertainty creeping into her thoughts. She couldn’t afford to be distracted -not now. Taking a deep breath, she straightened her shoulders and refocused. Nile and Dom were here somewhere, and she would find them.
∞
Unable to stop herself -Ash continued to contemplate the events that led up to now.
The Director had chosen her for this mission not just because of her skill but because of the unique nature of her target. The city of fallen angels wasn’t just another megacity on the map; it was also a hotspot of Denural activity. These creatures -part psychic vampire, part demonic predator- only surfaced in large numbers when something, or someone, of significant importance was nearby. A nascent, a being on the verge of awakening their ascendant powers, was a delicacy to the Denurals. They craved the initial burst of energy released during the nascent’s first manifestation. To them, it was the finest of feasts.
The act of feeding wasn’t necessarily fatal -at least, not directly. But Denurals had an even crueler trick up their sleeves. They could manipulate the natural dampener within a person’s mind, the internal safety switch that prevented overexertion. By overriding this mechanism, they forced the nascent to burn through their ascendant energy in one catastrophic surge. The result was horrifying: complete burnout, leaving the victim an empty husk.
Those who weren’t left for dead faced a far grimmer fate. In some cases, the Denurals would infuse their victim with the same twisted energy that had destroyed them, transforming them into Denurals themselves. It was a perverse cycle, and one that Ash had dedicated herself to breaking. Because there was no known cure for those turned into Denurals.
Scientists, mystics, and scholars had spent lifetimes searching for answers, but the origin of these creatures remained a mystery. Myths and legends suggested that the origin of their genesis began during the First Fall, a catastrophic event shrouded in ancient history. But the truth of it was known only to one being: Gadron, the oldest and most elusive Denural.
Gadron was a figure of legend, whispered about in hushed tones within the Guardians Network. Some believed he was the very first Denural, the progenitor of the entire species. Others dismissed him as a myth, a bogeyman created to frighten recruits. But Ash knew better. She’d seen the evidence, the fragments of truth buried in the Network’s archives. Gadron was real, and his secrets were guarded fiercely.
The nascent she was sent to protect was in grave danger. Newly awakened individuals, like baby cockatrice, had little control over their powers. They burned brightly but unpredictably, making them easy prey.
That was why Ash was here: to shield them from the Denurals and ensure their potential wasn’t snuffed out before it had a chance to bloom.
But the clock was ticking, and the fallen city’s chaotic energy wasn’t making her job any easier.
Ash took a deep breath, steeling herself. She couldn’t afford to fail. Not here. Not now.
She had a nascent to find.
And a boyfriend.
- Followers go up? Boom, bonus chapter.
- Favorites go up? Ka-ching, bonus chapter.
- Reviews? Cue the confetti -bonus chapter and a shoutout, because I care.
- Ratings go up? You guessed it -bonus chapter. (And I might even crack a smile. Maybe.)