POV: Kairo
I didn't sleep.
I couldn't.
The moment we left the Sanctuary, the air had thickened around me. No matter how many times I tried to focus on the mission, the words I'd seen burned into the walls kept flashing in my mind.
The Key Betrays.
Lyra had fallen quiet beside me as we made our way back to the tower. She hadn't asked me anything. She hadn't said a word since the mark appeared.
I wanted to talk to her. I wanted to explain everything, even though I had no idea how to. But each time I opened my mouth, the weight of it crushed me. I had no answers. I only had questions.
What if I was the reason she would burn?
What if the bond was never meant to be broken?
What if it was just a means to control us?
As I sat at my desk, staring at the ancient scrolls laid out in front of me, a voice echoed through my mind.
The bond between you isn't love, Kairo. It's a prison.
I shook my head.
Rhea had warned me long ago that my heart would betray me. She had always said the prophecy would lead me to ruin — to the very edge of everything I swore to protect.
But I never thought it would be this.
I stood, feeling the weight of the old scrolls in my hand. There had to be something here. Some solution. A way to keep Lyra safe.
But nothing made sense anymore.
I clenched my fists.
A knock at the door broke my concentration.
"Enter," I called out.
Rhea stepped in, her face pale, eyes filled with something darker than concern.
"It's happening," she said, voice tight. "The ritual — they're starting the full-scale incantation."
I froze. "Where?"
"Here. In the heart of the city. At the old grounds."
I didn't waste another second.
"Let's go."
We didn't speak as we rushed through the fortress, but I could feel her eyes on me. Like she was waiting for me to say something. Something that would explain why I hadn't told her the truth — why I hadn't told anyone.
But there was no time for that. Not anymore.
When we reached the gates, I spotted a figure standing in the shadows.
"Get in the car," Rhea said, her voice low.
I ignored her and stepped forward.
A tall figure emerged, cloaked in black. He moved with the same grace, the same intensity, that had always haunted my nightmares.
"Do you ever stop hunting?" I spat.
The man didn't flinch.
"I was hoping you would come to me first," he said, his voice like gravel. "But here we are."
I didn't need to ask who he was. He was the shadow from my past — the one I had tried to forget. The one who had always known my destiny before I did.
And now he was standing in front of me, ready to finish the job.
"What the hell do you want, Dante?" I growled.
He smiled darkly, his eyes gleaming with secrets I hadn't uncovered.
"I want what was promised to me," he said, his voice a low, sinister hum. "The Key. The Key to the Gate."
I felt a chill run through me.
"You've been waiting for this?"
"You think you've been in control all this time, Kairo?" He stepped closer, his smile widening. "You've been a pawn since the day you were born."
The truth hit me like a blow to the chest.
He was right.
I had been a pawn. My entire life had been a carefully constructed illusion. Everything I did, every choice I made, was part of the game they had been playing with me from the very beginning.
But they had underestimated one thing.
I wasn't the man they thought I was anymore.
And if Dante thought he could manipulate me like before, he was about to learn that the real game had just begun.
"You have no idea what you're up against," I said, my voice low and dangerous.
His smile faded, replaced by something much darker.
"We'll see, Kairo. We'll see."
And with that, he disappeared back into the shadows, leaving me standing there with the crushing weight of realization settling in