Amelia landed hard.
Cold stone rushed up to meet her as the world snapped back into place. Her palms stung, her breath knocked out of her chest—but at least she wasn't falling anymore.
Lian released her just as roughly, stumbling back with a hand pressed over his heart.
He looked… shaken.
Not from the escape.From her.
Amelia pushed herself upright. "Where are we?"
Lian didn't answer.
The chamber around them pulsed with dim red light, carved from obsidian stone veined with silver. Ancient runes glowed faintly along the walls. The air tasted metallic, like old magic and older secrets.
This wasn't a normal hideout.
This was a sanctuary.
A forbidden one.
Finally, Lian spoke—voice strained."This place is sealed from demonic tracking. Only Crimson Order disciples can enter."
Amelia rose to her feet, brushing dust off her clothes. "Then where is your master?"
"Still fighting." His jaw clenched, guilt flickering behind his eyes. "I disobeyed him."
Amelia didn't know why, but that guilt pulled at something inside her.
She crossed her arms. "You're a warrior. Not a child. You made a call."
"No." Lian stepped closer, eyes darkening. "I made a call because of you."
Her breath hitched.
Lian dragged a hand down his face, pacing. "This—whatever happened when I touched you—should not exist. I've only ever felt something like that when forming a soul-bond with a spirit weapon. Never with…" His eyes lifted to her, haunted. "…a human."
A soul-bond.
Amelia felt the words settle heavily in her bones.
"I didn't ask for this," she whispered.
"I didn't say you did." Lian stopped pacing. "But it changes everything."
She opened her mouth—but a sharp, violent pulse shot through her chest. She staggered, grabbing the wall as her vision blurred with white.
Lian was at her side instantly.
"Amelia!"
Her heart thrashed, pounding erratically—too fast, too hot. Her skin glowed faintly, a soft gold light radiating from her chest.
Lian inhaled sharply. "No. No, this isn't possible."
Her voice trembled. "What's happening to me?"
He touched her shoulders gently this time, steadying her. "That light… that mark… it's the Fate Seal."
The world tilted.
"The what?"
"In every generation, one soul is chosen to carry the burden of restoring balance," Lian said quietly. "A destined one. A soul the demons try to destroy before adulthood." His throat bobbed. "Your mother… knew you were born with it."
Amelia's chest tightened.Her mother had known?The woman she barely remembered?
"Why didn't she protect me?" Amelia whispered.
Lian's jaw flexed. "She tried. The demon-woman she took power from cursed her. That curse… passed to you."
Amelia's knees buckled.
Lian caught her before she hit the floor—one arm around her back, one under her knees. Her face pressed against his chest, and even through her fear, she registered the heat of him, the strength.
It scared her how safe she felt.
She pushed weakly at him. "Put me down."
"No," Lian murmured, voice deep. "You're burning up."
Amelia blinked hard. "Why… why do you even care? You don't know me."
He froze.
His heartbeat thudded against her cheek, strong and painfully fast.
"I shouldn't care," he said, voice barely more than a whisper. "You're a mission. Nothing more."
He lifted her higher, carrying her toward a stone bed carved into the chamber wall.
"But then I touched you," he continued, something raw breaking through his composure, "and the bond reacted. As if it had been waiting for you. For us."
Her pulse stuttered.
"Lian…"
"Rest," he whispered, laying her gently onto the stone bed. "I'll stay here until it stops."
"Until what stops?"
His eyes were molten when they met hers.
"The awakening." He pulled a chair close, gripping the hilt of his blade. "The Fate Seal is rewriting your soul. If you survive this… you'll become the most hunted woman in both realms."
Her vision blurred with heat.
"And if I don't survive?"
Lian leaned forward, his expression fierce, almost anguished.
"Then I will break fate itself to bring you back."
Amelia's breath caught just as the golden light in her chest exploded outward—
—and the world dissolved into blinding fire.