The safe house was so quiet I could hear the soft ticking of the clock above the fireplace. Luna's breathing had gone slow and steady — she was still slumped in her chair, under whatever sleep-spell Kael had cast.
Chris and Hay were frozen in the corner like statues, their eyes darting but their limbs refusing to move. I wasn't sure if Kael had done that to them too, but if he had, I was going to have a few words with him later.
For now, though, I was stuck across from him, trapped in the middle of a conversation I hadn't asked for… yet couldn't bring myself to walk away from.
Kael's elbows rested on the table, his long fingers steepled under his chin. His gaze was fixed on me, unblinking, like I was the only person in the world worth his attention.
"You want to know the truth?" he asked, voice low.
I swallowed, suddenly unsure if I did. "…Yeah."
"Then you'll have to listen. All of it. Without interrupting." His mouth twitched slightly at the corner, like he knew I'd fail at that part.
I scowled but nodded.
He leaned back slightly, his eyes growing distant again — like he wasn't just remembering this story, but seeing it unfold all over again.
"After my father, the Superior King, announced the challenge for the throne, my brothers and I made a decision. Instead of fighting one another, we would search for the Golden Gem together."
I blinked. "Wait, together? So no big war?"
His gaze flicked sharply to me.
I held up my hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, I'll shut up."
Satisfied, he continued.
"Our plan was simple. The gem would grant unmatched power to its wielder, and only one of us could officially claim the throne… but we thought we could bend the rules. Share the power. Rule all realms as a united force — three kings instead of one."
His voice softened for a brief second, like he was letting himself remember something almost… nostalgic. But then it hardened again.
"As for the Queen Gem… the law was ancient. Whoever claimed it — regardless of species — would marry the eldest brother and share the throne. That meant, by default, she would marry Zareth."
That caught my attention.
I leaned forward. "So, let me get this straight… You're telling me they just… decided her fate without even knowing her? Without asking if she even wanted to?"
His jaw twitched, but there was no apology in his eyes. "That is the way of our realm."
I let out a sharp laugh. "That's ridiculous."
Kael didn't respond. He simply stared at me until my smirk faded, then continued.
"Out of the three of us, Vaelthor was the most… adventurous. Restless. He loved exploring new things, pushing boundaries, challenging rules. And when he heard about the human realm…"
Kael paused, his eyes narrowing slightly, like even saying the words left a bad taste in his mouth.
"…he couldn't resist."
Something in the way he said it made a shiver creep up my spine.
"He went to your world," Kael continued, "and… mingled. Not with ordinary humans — but with your scientists. Your inventors. Your thinkers. They fascinated him, their hunger for knowledge, their willingness to defy nature itself in the name of progress. And in return… he fascinated them."
I shifted in my seat. "Why do I feel like this is the part where everything starts going downhill?"
Kael's gaze met mine. "Because it is."
He steepled his fingers again, his voice lowering into something almost conspiratorial.
"Vaelthor was clever. Brilliant, even. And with the help of your scientists, he created something… unprecedented. A system. A code. A bridge between realms. He called it exactly what it was — CODE."
The way he said it — deliberate, weighty — made the word feel like more than just four letters.
"CODE allowed humans to enter our world and live as we do," Kael said. "They could fight, explore, wield magic. For a time, it was… almost noble. A way for our realms to learn from one another. But our father, the king, did not approve. He saw the danger in it. He ordered Vaelthor to dismantle it at once."
I frowned. "Why? If it was harmless—"
"It was never harmless," Kael interrupted, his tone cutting through mine like a blade. "Our magic is not a toy. Your people were never meant to wield it. And our realm was never meant to carry the weight of mortal souls in such numbers. It would unbalance everything."
I stayed quiet this time, letting him continue.
"Vaelthor… didn't listen. He was rebellious by nature. Defiant. The more our father forbade him, the more determined he became. And then… he went further."
Kael's expression darkened, his eyes seeming to absorb the dim light in the room.
"He began to practice forbidden arts. Dark spells. Magic that was outlawed before even my father's reign. He toyed with the very essence of life itself. He stopped merely bringing humans into our realm… and started taking from them."
My stomach tightened. "Taking… what?"
Kael's voice was almost a whisper now.
"Their souls."
I stared at him, the words ringing in my ears like a church bell.
"He discovered that by pulling mortal souls into himself, he could gain power. More than power — strength, vitality, abilities he was never meant to possess. He began feeding on them, hiding it beneath the guise of CODE. To him, humans were not guests in our realm anymore. They were resources."
I felt my skin crawl.
"Your people thought they were… playing," Kael said, his voice bitter. "A grand game. A chance to be heroes in another world. They didn't know that with every battle, every 'defeat,' Vaelthor was siphoning pieces of them away."
My throat felt dry. "How many…?"
"Too many," Kael said simply.
The room felt colder now.
"It grew worse," he went on. "He grew… hungry. Insatiable. Every soul he took made him stronger, and the stronger he became, the more he wanted. It was no longer about the Golden Gem. It was about power. Pure, absolute power. And nothing — not our laws, not our father's wrath — could stop him."
For the first time since he started talking, Kael's mask of composure cracked. His voice carried a note of something deeper — not fear exactly, but the weight of memory.
"Our father gave him a final warning. Return to the royal path. Abandon the dark magic. Destroy CODE. He refused. And so… my father did what he had to do. Vaelthor was stripped of his title, banned from the royal kingdom, and forbidden from ever ascending the throne."
"Let me guess," I muttered. "He didn't take that well."
Kael's gaze hardened. "No. He was furious. He swore that if the Golden Gem could not be his through the throne, he would take it by force. And he would take the Queen Gem as well — not for love, not for unity… but for dominance."
The words sent a ripple of unease through me, though I didn't know exactly why. Not yet.
Kael's voice dropped even lower. "That is when he twisted CODE into something far darker than we ever imagined. It was no longer just a bridge. It was a trap. And the humans who entered… most of them never returned."
I swallowed hard, my eyes flicking to Luna's still form. Suddenly, the weight of all those strange disappearances, all those unexplained cases of people who'd 'vanished into the game,' didn't feel like urban legend anymore.
Kael's gaze didn't leave mine. "It was getting out of control. Entire human cities felt the ripple of his hunger. And so… the eldest brother stepped forward."
"Zareth," I said quietly.
"Yes." Kael's tone was sharper now, edged with something like pride — or maybe relief. "He confronted Vaelthor. Brother against brother. Light against shadow. The fight shook the skies of three realms. But even Zareth… could not finish him."
He stopped there, his eyes narrowing slightly, as if deciding whether or not to tell me the rest.
And then, without warning, he leaned forward again, his voice cutting the space between us like a blade.
"Do you understand now, Harper? Do you understand what kind of danger you've been wandering into?"
I didn't answer.
Because the truth was, I wasn't sure I wanted to.