her, promising answers, power, or perhaps something far more dangerous. Ethan's warni

are better

ing she'd uncovered, all the secrets, all the

lickering torchlight cast strange shadows on his face, making his expression appear even more unreadable than usual. She coul

low and firm. "Don't do this. Yo

ng that had been eating away at her. Eastwick, the mysteries, the strange warnings-

d to close in around her as she approached the pedestal. Ethan didn't move to stop her, but she

gy emanating from it. The surface was smooth and metallic, though she couldn't quite tell what material it was made of. It was unlike anyth

a rush of something-energy, knowledge, power-that she couldn't explain

e through her reverie, filled with panic. He lung

the underground vault was coming alive. Sophie's heart raced as she tried to pull away from Ethan, but the force of the tremor was too strong. She s

the room were no longer made of stone, but instead seemed to ripple like a reflection in water. Sophie's breath caught in her thr

ith fear. "I told you to stay away from

't just unlocked some secret. She had opened a door, a

pull in the pit of her stomach, as if the world was trying to tear itself apart. The walls began to distort eve

shaking with both fear and awe. "W

he Nexus. The relic... it's not just a key to Eastwick's secrets. It's a po

A portal? To another

ered, her voice trembling.

between our world and whatever lies beyond it is thinning. And once the Nexus is

own at the glowing object in her hand, which had now settled into an eer

's not just Eastwick's secret, is it? It's

Eastwick. Caldwell knew about it, and he built the university to contain it, to keep it

her chest. "But why didn't you stop me? W

t just about stopping it. It's about controlling it. You were never sup

ooked back at the warping room. "W

can't. The only thing we can do now is make sure no

ne was settling in, and she wasn't sure how much time the

oftly, "then all of Eastwick... and

and now, everything was on the line. The relic ha

poken promise. The next steps were uncertain, and the world as they knew it might never be

ng passing between them. They were in this