Nora's POV
The light from the rings burned through my veins like liquid fire.
I screamed. Dominic screamed beside me. The soul bond exploded between us—not painful, but overwhelming. Like every emotion, every memory, every piece of ourselves was crashing together and becoming one force.
Through the light, I saw Vivienne stumbling backward, her shadow form flickering like a broken TV signal.
"What are you DOING?" she shrieked.
I didn't know. The ring was hot on my finger, symbols glowing gold and pulsing in time with my heartbeat. Beside me, Dominic's silver ring blazed with the same rhythm.
"Speak your truth," Mrs. Winters had written.
What truth?
Then suddenly, I knew. The bond was showing me—Dominic's memories flooding into mine. His childhood. His mother dying. His father's suicide. Years of loneliness and fear and pushing everyone away because love meant death.
And my memories flowing into him. My parents' car crash. Growing up alone except for Grandma. Two years of loving him from afar while he treated me like nothing.
All of it. Every hurt. Every hope. Every secret.
"I love you!" The words burst from me without permission. "I've loved you since the first day I walked into your office and you yelled at me for bringing the wrong report! I've loved you through every cruel word, every cold look, every moment you pushed me away!"
The golden light from my ring grew brighter.
Dominic's voice joined mine, raw and desperate. "I love you! I've loved you so long I forgot what it felt like to NOT love you! Every time I was cruel, I was protecting you! Every time I pushed you away, I was dying inside! I was terrified of the curse, but I'm MORE terrified of living without you!"
His silver light merged with my gold.
The combined glow was blinding.
"Stop!" Vivienne's shadow form was burning away, smoke rising from her skin. "You can't—this isn't—"
"We're bound!" Dominic and I spoke together, our voices overlapping. "Soul to soul, heart to heart, for all eternity! Our love is stronger than your darkness!"
The light exploded outward like a bomb.
Vivienne SCREAMED—a sound that shattered every window in the conference room. Her human disguise ripped apart, revealing the Shade underneath—all shadows and teeth and nightmare.
But our light didn't stop. It wrapped around the Shade, binding it, crushing it.
"The curse is broken!" I shouted, somehow knowing the words to say. "The deal is void! You have no power here!"
"No claim on this bloodline!" Dominic added. "No right to these souls!"
The Shade writhed and twisted, fighting the light. But it was weakening. Fading.
Around us, the board members were frozen in shock, staring at the impossible scene.
Owen's mouth hung open. "What the actual—"
"We banish you!" Dominic and I spoke as one. "Back to the shadow realm! Never to return!"
The Shade gave one final, ear-splitting shriek.
Then it exploded into ash and nothingness.
The light faded.
The rings went dark.
I collapsed against Dominic, both of us gasping for air.
The conference room was silent except for our breathing and the sound of wind whistling through broken windows.
Then chaos.
"What was that?!" One board member yelled.
"Did we all just see—" Another stammered.
"That THING—it was Vivienne—but it wasn't—"
Owen rushed to us. "Are you two okay? What the hell just happened? Was that—did she—"
"Everyone out!" Dominic's voice cracked like a whip. Still the CEO, even after fighting a demon. "Board meeting is cancelled. Everyone go home. Now."
"But the allegations—" someone started.
"Were fabricated by a monster. Literally." Dominic stood, pulling me up with him. "The evidence was fake. The witnesses were paid off or manipulated. Ms. Chen is innocent, and anyone who says otherwise will answer to me. Are we clear?"
His tone left no room for argument.
The board members filed out slowly, whispering to each other, shooting us nervous glances.
Owen lingered. "Guys. Seriously. What was that?"
"Long story," I managed. "Involves curses, shadow demons, and magical marriages."
"Magical WHAT?"
Dominic held up his left hand, showing the silver ring. "Nora and I got married last night. Magically. To break a family curse. And that thing pretending to be Vivienne was a Shade sent to kill us."
Owen stared. Then started laughing. Then stopped when he realized we were serious. "You're not joking."
"Not joking," I confirmed.
"So you two are... married? Like, actually married?"
"Soul-bonded," Dominic said. "More permanent than regular marriage. If one of us dies, we both die. Forever bound."
Owen looked between us. "You've known each other—I mean, KNOWN each other—for less than twenty-four hours."
"Technically we've known each other for two years," I pointed out.
"And across multiple past lives," Dominic added. "Apparently."
Owen pinched the bridge of his nose. "I need a drink. Several drinks. Maybe therapy."
"Get in line," I muttered.
My phone buzzed. Jasmine calling.
I answered. "Jazz, I'm okay—"
"NORA!" She was crying. "Thank God! Someone just tried to grab me outside my apartment! A woman with black eyes—she turned into SMOKE when I screamed—"
My blood turned to ice. "Are you safe? Where are you?"
"Police station. I'm fine. But Nora, what is happening? What was that thing?"
"A Shade. They're—it's complicated. Stay at the police station. Don't leave until I get there. We're coming now."
I hung up and looked at Dominic. "Vivienne wasn't alone. There are more of them."
His jaw tightened. "How many more?"
As if answering, his phone buzzed. Then Owen's. Then mine again.
We all looked at our screens.
Multiple news alerts. All over the city.
"Strange attacks reported across Manhattan—"
"Witnesses describe 'shadow creatures' appearing—"
"Mass hysteria or mass hallucination? Psychologists baffled—"
"BREAKING: Mayor declares state of emergency—"
"Oh no," I whispered. "Breaking the curse didn't just free the Kane bloodline. It freed EVERYONE. Every family the Shades had deals with."
Dominic scrolled through his phone, face going paler with each headline. "That's hundreds of families. Thousands of people. All across the country."
"And all the Shades who had those deals?" Owen's voice shook. "They just lost their food source. They're going to be angry."
"They're going to be hunting," I corrected. "Hunting for revenge."
My phone rang again. Unknown number.
I answered cautiously. "Hello?"
"Nora Chen." The voice was ancient and cold, nothing like Mrs. Winters's warmth. "You've made a terrible mistake. You and your husband broke deals that have stood for centuries. You've disrupted the balance. The Shade Queen is awake now. And she's coming for you both. Tonight. Midnight. Times Square. Be there, or everyone you love dies screaming. Oh, and bring those cute little rings. She wants to see what gave you the power to kill one of her children."
The line went dead.
I looked at Dominic, my hand shaking.
"The Shade Queen," I whispered. "There's a QUEEN. And she's challenging us. Midnight. Times Square."
"That's where the New Year's ball drops," Owen said quietly. "There'll be thousands of people there. Tourists. Families. Kids."
"She's using them as hostages," Dominic realized. "Show up and fight her, or she kills everyone in Times Square."
I felt sick. "We're not ready for this. We barely survived Vivienne. A QUEEN—"
"We have the rings," Dominic said firmly. "We have the bond. We have each other."
"That might not be enough!"
"Then we get help." He pulled out his phone and dialed. "Mrs. Winters? We have a problem. A very big problem."
He put the call on speaker.
Mrs. Winters's voice came through, and she sounded worried. "Let me guess. The Shade Queen issued a challenge."
"How did you—"
"Because she always does when someone breaks her deals. Nora, Dominic, I need you to listen carefully. What you did today was incredible. You destroyed a Shade with pure love and will. But the Queen is different. She's ancient. Powerful. She's been feeding on human souls for ten thousand years."
"Can we beat her?" I asked.
Long pause.
"Maybe," Mrs. Winters said finally. "If you're willing to risk everything. If you're willing to fully merge your souls. Become one being temporarily. Channel all your combined power through those rings."
"What's the catch?" Dominic demanded.
"The catch is that if you merge and she kills one of you, the soul bond doesn't just kill you both. It destroys your souls completely. No afterlife. No reincarnation. No past lives to remember. Just... nothing. Forever."
My hand found Dominic's. The bond hummed between us.
"We don't have a choice," I said quietly. "If we don't fight, she kills thousands."
"If we do fight, we might cease to exist," Dominic countered. But he squeezed my hand. "But you're right. We can't let innocent people die."
"There's one more thing," Mrs. Winters said softly. "Your grandmother, Nora. She's an Oracle. She's been watching this timeline for years, waiting for this moment. She has something for you. Something your mother left before she died. Go to her. Before midnight. She lives at—"
"I know where Grandma lives," I interrupted. My heart was pounding. "She has something from my mom?"
"Something that will help you fight the Queen. Your mother knew this day would come. She prepared." Mrs. Winters paused. "Good luck, children. You're going to need it."
She hung up.
I looked at Dominic, then at Owen.
"We have—" I checked my watch. "—eleven hours until midnight. We need to see my grandmother, figure out what my mother left me, and somehow prepare to fight a ten-thousand-year-old demon queen in front of thousands of people."
"No problem," Owen said weakly. "Just another Tuesday."
Dominic pulled me close. Through the bond, I felt his fear mixing with determination.
"Whatever happens tonight," he whispered against my hair, "at least we're together."
"Together," I agreed.
My phone buzzed one more time.
Text from a blocked number: "P.S. - Your grandmother isn't the only Oracle watching this timeline. There are three. One wants you to win. One wants you to lose. And one wants you to choose something neither the Shade Queen nor Mrs. Winters has seen coming. Choose wisely, Nora Chen. Your choice at midnight will reshape reality itself."
I showed the text to Dominic.
We stared at each other.
"Three Oracles," I whispered. "Three possible futures. And somehow I have to choose the right one?"
"We choose," Dominic corrected. "Together. Always together."
I wanted to believe him.
But something told me that at midnight in Times Square, I might have to make a choice that would tear us apart.
Or save us both.
Or destroy everything.
And I had eleven hours to figure out which.