Amelia woke with a gasp.
Not from a nightmare.Not from pain.
From a summoning.
A deep-rooted, bone-deep vibration rolled through her veins, like the earth itself had whispered her true name beneath her skin. Her heart slammed once—hard—and a shiver of gold-black light leaked from her fingertips before fading into the dark.
She sat up slowly.
The room was dim… but not silent.
The air hummed.
Like something ancient was listening.
Kael was sitting beside her, back straight, wings half-furled in a protective curve. His eyes—silver, sharp, impossible to hide anything from—were fixed on her.
"You felt it," he said softly.
Amelia swallowed. "You knew it was coming?"
He didn't answer.Which was an answer.
Amelia pressed a trembling hand to her chest.
"It wasn't a vision," she whispered. "It wasn't even a memory. It felt like… someone reaching for me."
Kael's jaw tightened.
"Not someone."His voice dropped to a cold, dangerous whisper."Something."
A pulse thrummed beneath her skin again—gentle, but undeniable.
"Kael," she breathed, "something's happening to the Imprinted people. I can feel them. All of them. Like their energy's weaving through me."
Kael's head snapped up.
"That should be impossible."
She didn't argue.
Because she felt it again—threads of energy brushing against her like ghost-light:
A woman crying out in Indonesia as her veil ignited.A boy trembling in Kenya as symbols crawled up his spine.A healer collapsing in Brazil as her aura shattered open.Yuna—somewhere in Seoul—touching her throat in terror.
Each one a flicker.A whisper.A spark.
All flowing back to her.
"I don't understand," Amelia whispered. "Why me?"
Kael stood slowly, pacing once, wings scraping the air like controlled fury.
"It's starting," he muttered. "Earlier than they foretold. Earlier than any of us expected."
"What is?"
Kael turned to her.
His expression was not calm.
It was fear.
"The Convergence."
Amelia's mouth went dry. "You said that word before, but you never explained—"
"I didn't because I hoped we had more time."
He stepped closer and placed a hand against her forehead—checking for resonance, for fracture, for instability.
But what he found made him curse in a language older than stars.
"What?" she demanded.
Kael's wings flared. "Your energy field isn't divided anymore."
She blinked. "What does that mean?"
"It means Serael and Solyn aren't fighting each other inside you."His voice cracked."They're aligning."
Her heart stuttered.
Aligning.Not warring.Not clashing.
Coming together.
Elite-level dangerous.
World-altering.
Forbidden.
"Is that… bad?" she whispered.
Kael closed his eyes.
"It's inevitable."
Not comforting.
Amelia rubbed her temples, her breath shaky.
"I don't understand why the Imprints are reacting to me. They shouldn't be connected to anything celestial."
"They're not," Kael said quietly. "They're connected to the Primordial layer beneath the world—the layer you touched when you remembered your second name."
Amelia stiffened.
"Solyn."
Her forbidden identity.
Kael nodded.
"Solyn is the tether between the Imprinted and the cosmic realm. You're the bridge. The catalyst. The reason they're awakening faster."
"I didn't do anything."
"You existed."
Another pulse rippled through her chest, making the lanterns flicker.
Kael immediately moved closer, gripping her shoulders.
"Amelia—look at me."
She forced herself to meet his gaze.
"You're experiencing what only one being has ever experienced before," Kael said—the "one being" clearly unspoken but obvious.
Raeth.
The shadowbound prince sealed beneath the earth.
Her other half in the cosmic balance.
The one she once lovedand was once destined to destroyand was once destined to save.
The pulse struck again.
Harder.
Amelia hissed, gripping Kael's arm.
"It's getting stronger—Kael, I can't—"
Suddenly, across the world, an Imprinted screamed—
And Amelia heard it.
Not faint.Not distant.
Clear.
Raw.
Through the bond.
Her eyes flew open, gold and shadow igniting.
"Kael… it's not just a signal."Her voice trembled."It's a call for help."
Kael looked at her sharply. "From who?"
Amelia lifted her glowing hands, breath shaking.
"From all of them."
The room vibrated.
The world outside trembled.
And somewhere deep beneath the earth…
A voice she hadn't heard in lifetimes whispered through her bones:
"Little light… you're finally waking up."
Amelia's blood ran cold.
Raeth.
Alive.Watching.Waiting.
Kael felt the shift instantly and pulled her behind him, wings snapping open.
But it was too late.
The pulse answered Raeth.The energy surged.The world tilted—
And Amelia collapsed, dragged into the connection she could no longer ignore.
The Convergence had begun.