POV: Sera
"Grandmother, no!"
Kael's voice cracked on the word, and hearing that pain in it broke something inside me.
His grandmother—the powerful immortal who'd blessed me staying here, who said she liked me—stood beside Morvana with cold eyes that held no warmth. No love for her grandson.
"This isn't personal, Kael," she said. "The Soulweaver bloodline has always brought destruction. Your own mate died because of what they could do. I won't watch history repeat itself."
"She's not—" Kael started, but Morvana cut him off.
"Enough talking." She raised her hand, dark power gathering. "Seize the girl."
Warriors lunged forward.
Kael's power exploded, creating a shield around me. But there were too many of them. Marcus's men. Morvana's warriors. And now his own grandmother's forces.
We were outnumbered twenty to one.
"Theron!" Kael shouted. "Get Sera and Luna out! Now!"
"I'm not leaving you!" I grabbed his arm.
"You have to!" His amber eyes met mine, desperate and fierce. "They want you, not me. If you're gone, they have no reason to attack."
"They'll kill you!"
"I'm immortal. I'll survive." He touched my face one last time. "But you won't. Please, Sera. Trust me."
Theron grabbed my waist, pulling me backward. "Your Majesty, we can't hold them—"
The shield shattered.
Warriors poured through. Kael fought them off, his power devastating, but more kept coming. Marcus hung back, watching with that cruel smile I'd once thought was charming.
"Sera!" Luna screamed. She was pressed against the wall, Finn protecting her with his small body.
I tried to run to her, but Theron held me tight. "We have to go! Finn will protect her!"
"I can't leave them!"
"You have to!"
A warrior's blade came down toward Kael. He blocked it, but I saw him wince. They were wearing him down. Even an immortal emperor could only fight so many at once.
"Kael!" I screamed his name.
He looked at me one last time. Smiled. "Run."
Then the world exploded into light.
Not Kael's light. Different. Silver and gold mixed together.
When my vision cleared, we were somewhere else. A forest. Dark trees. Moonlight filtering through leaves.
The mortal realm. We were back in the mortal world.
"No!" I fought against Theron's grip. "Take me back! Kael is—"
"Is handling it," Theron said firmly. "He ordered me to get you to safety. That's what I'm doing."
"But your emperor—"
"Will be fine. He's the Undying Emperor. They can't kill him." Theron's voice was steady, but his eyes betrayed his worry. "Though they'll certainly try."
I wanted to scream. To cry. To run back through whatever portal we'd come through.
But it was gone. We were stuck here.
"Where's Luna?" I demanded. "Where's Finn?"
"Different exit. He took her to a safe house I know." Theron pulled out a phone—mortal technology. "I'll contact him now."
While he made the call, I sank to the ground, my hands shaking. Kael was fighting his own grandmother. His own court. All because of me.
This was my fault. All of it.
"Sera." Theron knelt beside me. "This isn't your fault."
"How did you—"
"Your face. You're thinking this is all because of you." His voice was kind. "It's not. These people chose betrayal. Chose greed and power over loyalty. You're just the excuse they used."
"But if I'd never saved him—"
"He'd still be chained and dying. Empty. Cursed." Theron's hand on my shoulder was gentle. "You gave him life again. Real life. Don't regret that."
My phone—Luna's phone that I'd been carrying—buzzed. A text from an unknown number.
"Meet me at the old warehouse on 5th Street. Come alone. I have information about Sera Winters. -A friend"
I showed it to Theron. "This could be a trap."
"Probably is." He stood up, offering his hand. "But we don't have many options. And we need information about who's working with Morvana in this realm."
We made our way through the city carefully. It was strange being back in the mortal world after the Eternal Court. Everything felt dimmer. Heavier. More real.
The warehouse was abandoned, windows broken, graffiti covering the walls. Theron went in first, his hand on his sword.
"Hello?" I called out. "Anyone here?"
"Sera Winters."
A woman stepped from the shadows. She was maybe fifty, with tired eyes and gray hair pulled back in a bun. She looked... normal. Like someone's mom.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"My name is Dr. Sarah Chen. I worked with your mother fifteen years ago." She pulled out an old photo, handing it to me.
My breath caught. It was my mother. Younger. Smiling. Standing next to this woman in what looked like a lab.
"You knew my mom?"
"I knew what she was. What you are." Dr. Chen's eyes were sad. "Soulweaver. She told me everything before she died. Made me promise to watch over you if anything happened to her."
"My mother's death was an accident," I whispered. "A car crash."
"It was murder." Dr. Chen's voice was flat. "Orchestrated by the same people hunting you now. I have proof. Documents. Her research. Everything she hid to keep you safe."
"Why didn't you come forward before?"
"Because they were watching me too. Waiting to see if I'd lead them to you." She glanced at the door nervously. "But things have changed. Marcus Thornwell has allied with creatures from another realm. They're planning something big. Something that will destroy both worlds if they succeed."
"What are they planning?" Theron demanded.
"They want to open permanent portals between realms. Let immortals invade the mortal world freely. In exchange, Marcus gets your power—gets to control you and force you to manipulate fate itself." She pulled out a flash drive. "It's all here. Their plans. Their meetings. Everything."
I reached for it, but she pulled back.
"First, you need to know something else." Her voice dropped. "Your mother didn't just work with Soulweaver abilities. She was researching the curse on the Undying Emperor. She found a way to break it completely."
My heart stopped. "What?"
"The curse that stole his emotions—there's a cure. A permanent one. But it requires the Soulweaver's blood. Your blood." She looked at me seriously. "A lot of it. Possibly all of it."
"You mean it would kill her," Theron said coldly.
"Maybe. Maybe not. Your mother's research was incomplete. She died before she could finish." Dr. Chen held out the flash drive. "But if you want to save him—truly save him from ever losing his emotions again—this is how."
I stared at the drive. At the choice being offered.
Save Kael permanently by risking my life. Or let him stay vulnerable to the curse that could return.
"There's one more thing," Dr. Chen said. "Marcus knows about this research. He's been searching for it for years. If he gets it first, he'll use it to control both of you. Force you to bind Kael to him instead. Make the emperor his puppet."
"That's not going to happen," I said firmly, taking the drive.
"Sera, we should analyze this first," Theron warned. "Make sure it's real."
"We don't have time. Kael is fighting for his life right now. If this can help him—"
A gunshot rang out.
Dr. Chen gasped, blood spreading across her chest. She crumpled to the ground.
"No!" I dropped beside her. "Who—"
"Got the target." A man's voice echoed through the warehouse. "Dr. Chen is down. Sera Winters is still here."
More footsteps. At least a dozen people closing in.
Theron grabbed my arm. "We have to go!"
"She's dying!" I pressed my hands to Dr. Chen's wound, and violet light flickered from my palms. My Soulweaver power trying to heal her.
"Sera..." Dr. Chen grabbed my hand weakly. "Your mother... loved you... so much. She died... to keep you... safe..."
"Don't talk! I can heal you, I just need—"
"No time." She pressed something into my hand. A small vial of silver liquid. "Her... last gift... to you. When the time comes... you'll know... what to do..."
Her eyes closed. Her breathing stopped.
She was gone.
"Sera!" Theron yanked me up as bullets started flying. "Move!"
We ran. My hands were covered in Dr. Chen's blood. The vial and flash drive clutched tight.
Behind us, I heard Marcus's voice. "Don't kill Sera! I need her alive! But the immortal—kill him if you can!"
We burst out of the warehouse just as it exploded behind us. The force threw us forward, and I hit the ground hard.
When I looked up, Marcus stood over me.
"Hello, darling," he said with that charming smile. "I've missed you."
Theron tried to stand, but three men held him down, a gun to his head.
"Don't move," Marcus warned. "Or your friend dies." He crouched beside me. "Now. You're going to come with me quietly. You're going to give me that flash drive and whatever else Dr. Chen gave you. And you're going to use your Soulweaver power exactly as I tell you."
"Never," I spat.
"Oh, I think you will." He pulled out his phone, showing me a live video feed.
Luna. Tied to a chair in a dark room. Bleeding. Crying.
"You have one hour to surrender yourself," Marcus said. "Or I start cutting pieces off your best friend. Starting with her fingers."
My blood turned to ice.
"Your choice, Sera. Save your friend. Or watch her die slowly while you run."
He stood up, his men dragging me to my feet.
"Oh, and one more thing." Marcus's smile widened. "That immortal emperor you're so fond of? The one fighting for his life right now? I just got word from Morvana. They captured him. He's in chains. Again."
No. No, no, no.
"They're going to execute him at dawn," Marcus continued. "Public execution. All the courts will watch. Unless..." He looked at me. "Unless you trade yourself for him. Your life for his."
I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think.
Luna or Kael. My best friend or the man who'd saved me.
I had to choose who to save.
And no matter what I chose, someone I loved would die.