Page 80 of The Devil's Canvas

A single tear slides down my cheek.

Before I can even scream, I feel a yank—and we drop. I know this feeling. It’s the same one from before, when we teleported.

“Oh shi—” I blurt, but I’m cut off.

I land in a living room. Not mine.

“Well fuckingshit.Look who showed up,” Owen says.

Wait. Owen?

“What—Owen? I—” I blink, totally disoriented.

That’s when I see the others. Strangers. All of them.

A woman with sharp eyes and quiet grace, like she’s holding secrets in the stillness between breaths. Another with a flowing, dreamlike presence—her gaze soft but piercing, like she sees right through me. A man stands nearby, broad and composed, with a kind of quiet control that hums in the air. Then another—taller, colder, the room dimming just from his presence.

They’re all watching me.

LikeI’mthe one who doesn’t belong.

“Where the hell am I?” I mutter, heart pounding. None of this makes sense. Did Julian do this? Am I losing my mind?

A voice drips sarcasm. “Hell, huh? Nailed it on the first guess,” Seth says, slouched like he’s been waiting just to piss me off. “Welcome to the shitshow, newbie.”

And now I want to punch him.

Julian is across the room. Staring at me.

Fuming.

He looksfurious, though I don’t know why. He’s the one who brought me here.

“Julian?” The man seated speaks with quiet authority. “Who is this?”

Julian doesn’t hesitate. “Dad… this is Ophelia. My soulmate.”

The woman cuts in. “What is she doing here?”

“I don’t know,” Julian says.

“Youdon’tknow?” I ask, eyebrows raised. “But I—” He cuts me off, guiding me aside with a firm, steady hand.

“What are you doing here, Ophelia?” His voice is low. Measured. Controlled.

“I have no idea,” I say. “One second I was calling you—being ignored,by the way—and next, I’m in this living room.”

“I was occupied,” he replies flatly, eyes unreadable.

“Clearly,” I mutter, arms crossed.

He gestures toward the group. “Come.”

His stride is calm, almost too calm, as he leads me forward.

“This is Ophelia,” he says. “Mother, Father, Aunt, Uncle—Liora, Evander, Selene, Theron.”

“We’ve been expecting something like this to happen,” Selene says, voice smooth, inscrutable.

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