Chapter 22 - Chapter Twenty- TwoThe Mark of the Serpent

The abbey was no longer quiet. Where once hymns had filled the air, now the echo of distant wings and the hiss of unseen whispers clung to every corridor. The torches sputtered with unnatural shadows, curling into shapes that seemed to leer and beckon. Magdalena felt it in her bones—the abbey itself was changing, warping beneath the clash of Heaven and Hell.\n\nShe awoke in Lucien's arms, her skin still slick from the heat of their shared frenzy. His chest rose and fell against her cheek, but his eyes were open, burning crimson, staring at something far beyond the stone ceiling above them.\n\n"What do you see?" she whispered, her voice raspy with exhaustion and need.\n\nLucien brushed his lips against her hair, his voice low. "They're closer. The Watchers. Angels once bound to guard creation. Now they hunt me. And you."\n\nHer heart thudded painfully. "Why me?"\n\nHe shifted, cupping her face in his hand. "Because you've crossed the threshold, Magdalena. You are no longer only theirs." His fingers trailed down her throat, over the mark that had appeared there the night before—a faint serpent coiled into infinity, glowing faintly beneath her skin.\n\nMagdalena's breath caught. She hadn't wanted to look at it, but she could feel its pulse every time Lucien touched her. "What is it?"\n\n"The Mark of the Serpent," Lucien said, eyes darkening. "My sigil. It binds us. And it binds you to powers that the Church tried to bury centuries ago."\n\nBefore she could respond, a sharp clang rang from the lower halls. Boots. Voices. The sound of steel being drawn. Brother Alaric's voice echoed, commanding but strained: "Seal every door! She must not escape!"\n\nMagdalena bolted upright. "They're after me—"\n\n"No," Lucien corrected, pulling her back into his arms, his lips ghosting over her ear. "They're after us. Because they know what we've unleashed."\n\nA tremor of both terror and desire coursed through her. She pressed against him, their lips colliding, their bodies tangling once more in a fevered kiss. The serpent mark on her skin flared with heat, burning but intoxicating. Every thrust of his tongue, every brush of his hand ignited that same forbidden fire until she gasped his name, her nails digging into his shoulders as though to anchor herself against the storm gathering inside her.\n\nYet just as the ecstasy threatened to consume her, a deafening crash split the chamber doors. Figures cloaked in white stormed in, their swords gleaming with holy light, eyes blazing with righteous fury. Angels—fallen into flesh, disguised as monks.\n\nLucien's form rippled with darkness, wings of shadow bursting free from his back, filling the chamber with a suffocating power. He pushed Magdalena behind him. "Stay down."\n\nBut one of the intruders fixed his glowing gaze on her, not Lucien. "The woman bears the Mark. She cannot be allowed to live."\n\nRage unlike anything she had ever felt surged through Magdalena. She stepped forward, bare skin glowing faintly in the half-light, the serpent mark bright as molten gold. "You will not touch me," she hissed.\n\nThe nearest angel lunged. Without thinking, Magdalena raised her hand. Power spilled out of her palm like black fire, searing the air, striking the attacker square in the chest. He staggered back, wings aflame, screaming as he fell into ash.\n\nSilence fell for a moment. Even Lucien looked at her with astonishment.\n\nMagdalena trembled, her body quaking from the force that had poured through her. She turned to Lucien, eyes wide. "What did I just do?"\n\nLucien's lips curved into something between pride and fear. "You accepted the Mark. You are no longer just a pawn of Heaven. You are mine."\n\nAnother angel roared, charging forward, and Lucien met him with a clash of steel and shadow. The chamber erupted into chaos—blades striking, wings thrashing, fire and light colliding with darkness. Magdalena fell back against the wall, clutching at her serpent mark as it pulsed with energy, demanding release.\n\nAlaric's voice cut through the din, cold and unyielding. "Magdalena! Step away from him. Renounce him, and Rome will show mercy."\n\nShe stared at him, breathless, torn between everything she had once vowed and everything her body, her soul, now craved. Her lips parted, trembling as if to speak—\n\nAnd the serpent mark blazed brighter, forcing a scream from her throat as a voice not her own whispered inside her skull: "Choose, child. Heaven or Hell. But know—your choice will end them all."\n\nThe battle froze, every eye turning to her, waiting. Even Lucien.\n\nHer body shook, power thrumming in every vein, the air splitting with the weight of her decision.\n\nAnd Magdalena whispered: