The altar pulsed with the light of the candles, as though it had lived, as though the stone itself had been hacked from a thing that breathed and bled.Mariam froze. Her legs turned weak and she grasped the edge of the chill stone for support. For an instant, she thought her eyes deceived her, but no.. her name, her name, etched deep into the altar, glared back at her as if in judgment. Each letter was streaked with dried blood, as if freshly cut.Her throat tightened. She forced out a sound that broke in two."Why is my name here? "Adrian stood one step behind her, thrown into shadow by the candles. His fists were bunched at his sides, knuckles ghost-pale, and his jaw clenched so tightly she could hear the scrape of teeth. His silence killed, more lethal than blades."Adrian." Her voice climbed higher, shrinking from fear that felt too thick to breathe. She spun to him, chest rising and falling like her lungs didn't have enough air. "What the devil is this? Why would my name be written on a blood-soaked altar?"He did not move. His body was locked, but his eyes.His eyes burned with something she'd never seen before, not even at the killing. Not anger. Not even rage. No, this was terror."That's not something you should""Don't even try finishing that sentence." Her scream tore through the room, off the walls like a caged bird.". "Don't even consider telling me it's not for me to know. This is my name. My blood. My life. You don't get to lock me up in your shadows and play god with my future."The pressure of the ensuing silence smothered her chest, heavy, suffocating.Finally, Adrian stepped forward. His hand hovered, then brushed the edge of the altar, right over her name. His fingers trembled just a bit, barely perceptible but Mariam saw it. The contact wasn't brutal. It was worshipful. Reverent. That scared her more than blood, more than the threats of Samuel.Where he stepped, his voice low and raw without emotion."They think you hold the key."Her gut fell. "The key to what? "Adrian's throat bobbed as though the words were painful to say. "The sacrifice who will end the war…or the one who will burn it alive."Her whole body jolted backward. The word lodged inside her skull like a nail."Sacrifice? "He turned then, finally facing her fully, his shadow stretching across her like a curse. His gaze locked on hers, a storm of fury and desperation."That's why Samuel wants you. Why he'll never stop. You're not just leverage, Mariam. You're prophecy. And prophecy doesn't end in freedom."She felt the floor tilt. The world spun in sharp, dizzying angles. "No," she whispered. "No, that's insane. I'm not ,I'm not anyone's prophecy."But her voice faltered, because the moment her palm touched the altar she felt it the faintest hum beneath the stone. A vibration that crawled up her wrist, into her chest, beating in rhythm with her heart. Her name throbbed in her veins as if it were alive. Her stomach ran cold. "And you, what are you doing with me? Protecting me, or keeping me alive long enough to "Her voice broke. "to deliver me?" The words flew out of her before she could swallow them. Poison. Uncertainty. The poison Samuel had given her was blooming, strangling her veins.Adrian's face twisted, rage burning like fire. "You think I'd let anyone put a hand on you? You think I've killed for you, maybe bled for you, just to "Then why not?" Her fists were tight and she punched him in the chest. He didn't move, but she pushed at him again, rage growing with her tears. "Why did you leave me in the dark? While they etched my name onto stone like I was livestock to the slaughter? Why didn't you tell me I was ?"His silence cut her deeper than any blade.Mariam's ribcage gave way. Her heart shattered.The chamber creaked.The creak wracked her vertebrae, wrenching her attention to the tunnel behind them.Step-falling. Heavy. Measured. Each one scraping closer.A voice crept into the chamber, heavy with smoke and silk."Ah. You discovered it."Her blood became ice.Samuel emerged out of the shadows, candles tracing golden fire across his face. His men fanned out behind him like wolves, guns flashing in the half-dark. His smile was razor-sharp, his presence rolling the room until it seemed the walls themselves bent to follow him."Lovely, isn't it? " His voice caressed the air. He nodded toward the altar. "Your destiny is carved into stone."Mariam's flesh crawled.Adrian moved in a flash, his body twisting to shield her. His gun snapped up, cocked and steady. "Stay the hell back."Samuel ignored the gun, his gaze relentless over Adrian as if he were an insect. His eyes settled on Mariam and stuck. He gulped her down like a drink."Do you feel it, Mariam? The pull? The altar calls because it knows you. Because you were born for this."She parched her throat. She shook her head, a stinging tear welling. "No.". I don't think so.Samuel stepped closer, lips molding into a patient smile. His voice softened, as if he were speaking to her in isolation."Don't think so, then. Think what you feel in your veins right now. That thudding within your chest? That heat that seeps into your fingers? That's not fear.
Her heart was racing so hard she was certain she could hear it smash her skull.
"It's recognition," he gasped.
And cursed him, she could feel something dark unwinding in her chest, something that spat this wasn't new, this wasn't foreign. This was a memory in her bones.
"Enough!" Adrian roared.
The bullet exploded like lightning.
The shot flew by Mariam's ear and skimmed Samuel's cheek. Blood trailed down his jaw.Mariam gasped for breath.But Samuel didn't flinch. Didn't stumble. His grin widened. He raised a hand, running two fingers through the blood, leaving his lips with the stain as if by a blessing."There he is," Samuel panted. "The monster disguised as your hero."He swung back to face her, fire burning in his eyes."Tell me, love.". When he finally loses it, when he chooses the war rather than you, where will you be?"Adrian took a step forward, in front of them, talking through shaking rage. "Over my dead body."Samuel's grin flashed like a blade. "Exactly."He snapped his fingers.Two men hurled smoke canisters onto the ground.The room erupted.Gray mist seethed out, suffocating, sour, searing her lungs. Mariam coughed, stumbling back as the world dissolved into shadow and ruin.Shouts. Gunfire. Wails ringing off walls.A grip closed around her wrist, fingers interlocked in iron. She bucked, nails scraping skin, but the grip held fast.Adrian's rumbled through the fog, raw and insistent."Mariam!"Her heart convulsed. She spun, kicked, teeth sunk into flesh. The man cursed, releasing her. She lurched back into the mist, coughing, blind, gagging on smoke. Shapes floated around her silhouettes colliding into silhouettes, the ring of metal, the sound of fists crashing, the sizzle of another bullet. Her ears pounded. Her body trembled. A whisper crept into her ear, cold and intimate. "Choose.".Now!
Her stomach churned. She spun, but nothing but writhing smoke and firelight shadows existed.Adrian's figure loomed in the smoke fighting three men at a time, blood smeared on his arm, gun gone, his body panting.And facing him Samuel.Standing untouched, braced like the eye of a storm undefined.A sword glinted in his hand, red dripping from the tip.His other hand extended to her, patient, solid."Mariam," he whispered, voice coiling around her like chains. "Come to me, Choose me, and it's over. Adrian roared, buckling under a blow, fists swinging wild but desperate.Samuel's smile widened undefined"or watch him die."Her heart pounded so violently she thought her ribs might crack.Her knees shook, threatening to collapse. The smoke enveloped her, thick and smothering, the altar rising behind her as if waiting.Her mind fractured beneath the weight of the choice.She could not save them both.Not this night.And with every passing second, with each deepening gasp, the truth clung to her like a blade to her throat.She had mere moments to decide.Which man would survive.And which one would perish.