The night after Selene vanished was the longest of my life.
I didn't sleep. Couldn't. Her words crawled through my veins like frost, whispering every time my pulse stuttered: He rises even now.
The forest around me was silent — no birds, no wind, just the rhythmic drip of water from leaves. Every sound was too loud. Every breath felt borrowed.
I wrapped my arms around myself, staring at the place where she had stood. The ground was scorched in a perfect circle, the soil crystallized under moonfire. It glowed faintly, still bleeding light. I hated it — hated how beautiful her ruin was.
"You're wrong," I whispered into the stillness. "You're wrong about him."
The shadows under my skin stirred uneasily, whispering in tongues I couldn't fully understand. Are we wrong? they asked, in the pulse of my blood. Can fate be defied when it already breathes within you?
I shut them out. I had to. If I started listening, I'd lose myself again.
But even in denial, I could feel Liam — faint, but there. The bond flickered like a dying ember. He was alive. Alive, but drifting farther. The river had taken him somewhere I couldn't see.
Every part of me screamed to follow.
So I did.
I stumbled through the forest, through mud and stone and thorn, half-blind from exhaustion. The shadows lit my path faintly, but even they were weak — sluggish, heavy with the weight of Selene's interference. My blood still burned from where she'd touched me, a mark beneath the skin that throbbed like a wound.
By the time dawn began to bleed across the horizon, I reached the cliffside.
The air here was colder, sharper — filled with the echo of water far below. I crept to the edge, heart hammering, and saw it: the river, black and endless, carving its way through the gorge. The mist rose from it like breath.
He was down there somewhere.
"Liam…" My voice broke. "Please, just—stay."
A crack echoed behind me.
I spun.
Through the thinning fog, figures emerged — black armor, red insignias, eyes burning crimson in the gloom. Nightwalkers.
Marcus's hunters.
Of course he wouldn't let me vanish quietly.
Their leader stepped forward, silver hair glinting faintly in the dawn. I knew that face even before the mask fell — Kaylan.
"You just don't know when to die," she said softly.
Her voice was steady, but her eyes — they were something else entirely. Fury. Betrayal. Grief, maybe. I'd humiliated her before the Court. I'd stolen her master's prize and turned his decree into mockery.
Now she was here to correct that mistake.
"You should've stayed buried with him," she said.
"I won't let you touch him."
Her laugh was sharp, cutting through the morning air. "Still pretending this is love? He's dead, Aria. All you have left is guilt."
"He's alive."
Kaylan's smile faltered — just slightly — before she raised her blade. "Then I'll fix that."
The shadows flared before I could think. They coiled around my arms, my shoulders, rising in jagged waves. The forest dimmed as if the light itself recoiled.
Kaylan's hunters spread, forming a half-circle. Their crossbows shimmered faintly with runes — silver-tipped, designed for monsters like me.
"Marcus wants you alive," Kaylan said. "But I'll settle for breathing — barely."
She lunged.
Her sword met my shadow mid-air, sparks scattering. The impact jarred my bones, forcing me back. I countered — the darkness responding like muscle, twisting around her wrist and snapping forward.
She cut through it effortlessly.
Faster than thought, she moved again — a blur of silver and rage. Steel slashed my side; I bit back a cry, spun, and shoved my palm outward. The shadow burst from me, a shockwave that hurled her into the dirt.
The hunters loosed their bolts.
The world became chaos.
I twisted, ducked, the shadows deflecting some but not all. Pain seared across my shoulder. Another bolt grazed my thigh. The scent of burning metal filled the air — they'd laced the arrows with runic fire.
I fell to my knees. Blood ran hot down my skin.
"Aria," Kaylan said, rising slowly. Her expression was no longer furious. It was pitying. "You can't win this."
"I don't need to win." My breath came ragged. "Just to reach him."
Her gaze flicked toward the cliff behind me, then back. Her smirk returned. "Then by all means. Jump."
She lunged again, blade flashing. I threw my hand up in desperation — and the shadows answered in a way they never had before.
They screamed.
Not words. Not whispers. Screamed.
A surge of black fire erupted from my chest, so violent that the ground split. The hunters were thrown backward. Trees cracked, their bark devoured by darkness.
Kaylan shielded herself with her blade, her eyes wide. "What are you—"
"Something you should fear," I whispered.
The shadows around me thickened until I couldn't see my own hands. They pulsed, alive, writhing. The air tasted like metal. My blood sang with power I didn't understand.
Kaylan took one step back — the first time I'd ever seen her retreat.
"Marcus will burn the world for this," she said, voice shaking.
"Then let him."
I turned and ran.
The cliff's edge rushed up to meet me. The wind howled. Kaylan's shout echoed behind me, but I didn't stop. I couldn't.
Liam's heartbeat was fading.
I jumped.