What Follows When You Don’t Look Away

Iria didn’t summon anything.She didn’t perform a ritual or make a deal. She just didn’t look away. Now something follows her through the city—a shadow that moves wrong, learns too fast, and keeps getting closer. At first it stayed ten steps behind. Then seven. Then one. The city notices. As Iria struggles to keep her life intact—working, surviving, pretending she isn’t unraveling—she learns that the thing bound to her is unfinished, dangerous, and drawing attention from forces that hunt what doesn’t fit. Ancient infrastructure stirs beneath the streets. People who shouldn’t see begin to notice. And the distance between her and the shadow becomes less physical, more conceptual. Because the closer it gets, the less clear the line becomes between protector and threat…Between companion and curse…Between where it ends—and where Iria begins.