Aeloria slammed back into her body with a gasp.
Except… everything was different.
The chamber was gone. The molten stone. The illusions. The overwhelming heat.
Now she stood in a valley of stars—floating, suspended, supported by nothing but the gravity of the Celestial Bond itself. Threads of gold, crimson, and silver wrapped around her limbs, her torso, her throat, pulsing with meaning.
The vampire materialized first, his silhouette cut from shadow and moonlight.Then the dragon, his aura burning like a sun.
Both stood close. Too close.The air thrummed.
"You touched the Flame," the vampire said softly, stepping toward her until there were only inches between them. "And it marked you."
Aeloria glanced down.
On her skin, glowing faintly like molten script, were Celestial sigils she had never seen before—symbols that pulsed each time her heart beat.
The dragon's eyes widened, heat flaring in his voice."That mark is ancient. It is forged only when the Flame recognizes someone who carries… more than one fate."
The vampire's voice dropped low. "Two bonds. One center. One sovereign."
Her breath hitched. "Is that even possible?"
"For you," the dragon murmured, "yes."
The vampire lifted her chin with a single finger—gentle but claiming, like a vow forming between them. "You are the heart between fire and shadow. The Flame did not punish you for what you feel. It honored it."
Heat flooded her cheeks, her chest, her core.
The dragon stepped behind her, one hand hovering near her waist—not touching, yet she felt the warmth like a single burning brand. "The Sanctum is asking you to stop denying the intensity of the bond we share. With both of us."
The vampire leaned in, lips brushing her ear without touching. "Aeloria… this is not just desire. This is destiny."
The air thickened.
Her pulse thundered.
Heat wrapped around all three of them, golden and crimson and silver. The Sanctum's starry valley began to collapse inward, compressing them into a single point of blazing light—
And then—
A shockwave of magic burst outward, wrapping the trio in a cocoon of warmth, tension, intimacy, and power that made her knees buckle.
The dragon caught her before she fell, strength and heat enveloping her.The vampire steadied her chin, eyes blazing with a promise she wasn't sure she was ready—or able—to resist.
"Aeloria," the vampire whispered, voice darker, rawer than ever.
The dragon's breath heated her neck.
And the Sanctum pulsed one message:
CHOOSE NOT BETWEEN THEM.CHOOSE THE BOND THAT UNITES THEM.
Aeloria's breath stuttered, body trembling with the force of destiny and desire colliding.
This was no longer a trial.
This was the beginning of the truth she had been running from.
And she could not run anymore.