Whispered Shadows

Chapter Thirty-Five

A Ghost in the Dark

Ryder

There's a sound—the faint creak of a door opening behind us. Instinct takes over, and we both whirl around, our guns snapping up. My heart leaps into my throat as the door slowly swings open, the light from outside casting a thin shadow onto the floor.

My heart skips a beat.

I freeze.

"Noa?" My voice is barely a whisper, but it's filled with hope, with desperation.

I take one more step forward, eyes trained on the space ahead, where the shadows creep along the floor. There's something there. A figure, maybe, or just my imagination. But I have to know.

I reach for the flashlight above my gun and turn it on, the beam cutting through the darkness ahead. It shakes in my hand as I shine it across the floor and to the door.

I take another step and—

A figure moves in the corner of my eye.

It takes a step closer with its hands in the air. I can't shoot. If this is Shadow they are the only one who knows where Noa is.

My breath catches in my throat.

It's her.

It's Noa.

But she's not moving. She's standing still, frozen in place, her back turned to me. I can see the silhouette of her in the dark, her long dark hair falling in messy waves over her shoulders, her stance rigid, like she's waiting for something.

"Noa?" I breathe her name again, stepping closer.

She doesn't turn around.

I'm only a few feet away now, and I can feel my heartbeat pounding in my throat. What the hell is going on? Why isn't she moving?

I reach out to touch her shoulder, but before I can make contact, she suddenly whips around, and I'm face-to-face with—

Not Noa.

The woman in front of me is nothing like the Noa I know. Her face is hollow, drawn with exhaustion, her eyes glazed over like she's been trapped in some kind of daze for far too long. She looks so much like her, but she's not my Noa.

My heart stops for a moment.

It's Gia.

"Gia?" The word slips out of my mouth before I can stop it. My voice cracks, the disbelief so thick I can hardly choke the words out. I don't even realize I've lowered my gun until Asher shoots me a glance.

"Don't," he warns, his voice hard and cold. But I can't help it. I can't keep the hope from flooding through me. She's alive. She's here.

Gia stands in the doorway, her face pale, her eyes wide, but the same coldness I remember from before is gone. She looks tired, and lost, like she's been carrying a weight too heavy for her to bear. Her hair is a little longer, a little messier, and she looks thinner, but it's still unmistakably her.

"Gia..." I take a step forward, the gun still loosely in my grip, my mind reeling. "Where the hell have you been? We thought—"

"Put the gun down," she says softly, cutting me off. Her voice is raw, and strained, like she hasn't spoken much in a while. I stop in my tracks, my heart hammering in my chest, still trying to piece together what the hell is happening.

She's here. Alive. And yet, she's not the same person I remember.

I don't know what to think. What to do.