when i sleep : The Nocturnal hunter (book 1)

The shattered battlefield was gone.

Ethan gasped, his lungs burning as his body was ripped back into reality. He wasn’t falling anymore—he was collapsing. His knees hit the cracked stone of the ruins, his vision swimming. The world around him pulsed, the weight of the Abyss still clawing at his mind.

His hand trembled.

His fingers clenched, expecting to feel the hilt of his weapon—but he felt nothing. It was gone. Everything was gone.

Except for the voice.

"You were never meant to win this war."

The words still echoed in his skull, deeper than sound—like something had carved them into his very being.

"Ethan!"

A sharp voice cut through the fog. He felt hands grabbing him, steadying his shaking form. His breath was ragged, his body unresponsive. For a moment, he thought it was his doppelgänger dragging him back down—

But then he saw her.

Serena Vale knelt in front of him, her violet eyes sharp, scanning him with unreadable intensity. Behind her, Avery groaned in pain, still badly injured but alive.

"Good," Serena murmured. "You're still in one piece."

Ethan coughed, struggling to focus. His body ached like it had been torn apart and stitched back together. His veins burned with an unnatural heat—something wrong.

Avery let out a weak chuckle from where he was slumped against the rubble. "Define ‘one piece.’ Because he looks like hell."

Ethan forced himself to move, his muscles protesting with every inch. His hands felt heavier, like something had been fused to his very bones. His mind was still reeling from what he had seen—

His other self.

Those darkened eyes. That cold, knowing smirk.

The sheer power he had wielded, as if he had already embraced something Ethan still resisted.

"Is that my future?" Ethan’s throat was dry as he rasped, "What... happened?"

Serena didn’t answer immediately. She studied him for a long moment before sighing, standing up. "You passed."

Ethan barked out a laugh—hoarse, bitter. "That sure as hell didn't feel like a win."

Serena’s expression didn’t shift. "It wasn’t."

Ethan’s stomach twisted. He had fought, bled, and almost lost himself. And for what?

"You will not leave this place until you understand."

His doppelgänger’s words clawed at the back of his mind.

Serena folded her arms. "The First Warrior’s Temptation isn’t about victory. It’s about survival. The fact that you're still breathing means you didn’t break."

Ethan clenched his fists. "Then why the hell do I feel like something is missing?"

Serena’s gaze flickered—just for a second. "Because something is."

Avery groaned. "Okay, great. Love the cryptic answers, but can we get out of here before this place actually kills us?"

He wasn’t wrong. The ruins were trembling, the air thick with residual energy. Ethan felt it too—something wasn’t right.

Serena turned toward the collapsed archway. "The Abyss doesn’t let its prey escape easily."

A deep, guttural rumble vibrated through the ground beneath them.