Julian stepped out of the building, his sharp footsteps echoing faintly in the hallway behind him. Somewhere, it seemed, Rose’s piercing screams still reverberated, a lingering shadow of chaos.

Around him, the night was unnervingly still, the silence as dense and oppressive as if it concealed lurking phantoms. It wasn’t the gods or demons Julian feared—he didn’t believe in the gods—but he knew all too well that the true specters lay within: the gnawing hunger for ...