Aria's POV
"Who was she?" I demand the moment Kaito leads me away from the chaos.
Council members are still swarming the ceremony grounds, arguing about the Sato family's crimes. Guards drag Master Sato toward holding cells while he screams threats. Kenji sits broken on the platform, and Yumi sobs dramatically to anyone who'll listen.
But all I can think about is that woman. Those ice-blue eyes. The way Azrael tensed when he saw her.
"Who?" Kaito asks, guiding me through a side door into a private hallway.
"The woman watching from the shadows. Blue eyes. She looked at Azrael like she knew him."
Azrael, walking behind us, goes very still.
Kaito stops and turns to face the Demon King. "Someone from your past is here?"
"Possibly." Azrael's voice is carefully neutral. "I need to investigate before jumping to conclusions."
"That's not an answer," I say, crossing my arms. Through our soul bond, I feel his tension. His worry. "Azrael, if there's danger—"
"There's always danger around me." He tries to smile, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "I'm a Demon King, little contractor. I have more enemies than you can count."
"But this one scared you." I step closer, studying his face. "I felt it through the bond. Fear. You're actually afraid of someone."
He looks away, jaw tight. "Not afraid. Cautious."
"Who is she?" Kaito demands. "If she's a threat to my sister, I need to know."
Azrael sighs, running a hand through his silver hair. "Her name is Morgana. She was... close to my brother. Before the betrayal."
My stomach drops. "Your brother. The one who threw you into the Abyss?"
"Yes." His crimson eyes darken with old pain. "Morgana was his most trusted advisor. A witch with power that rivaled gods. If she's here..." He meets my gaze. "She's either looking for revenge on me for surviving, or she wants something worse."
"What could be worse than revenge?" I ask.
"Recruitment." A new voice answers from the hallway entrance.
We all spin around.
The woman from the shadows stands there, leaning casually against the doorframe. She's beautiful in a dangerous way—long black hair, ice-blue eyes, wearing a sleek red dress that looks expensive and deadly.
Morgana.
"Hello, Azrael." Her smile is sharp. "Long time no see. Three hundred years, give or take?"
Azrael moves instantly, positioning himself between her and me. Chains ripple across his body, ready to attack. "Get away from her."
"Relax." Morgana waves a dismissive hand. "I'm not here to fight. If I wanted the girl dead, she'd be dead." Her gaze slides to me, assessing. "So you're the little contractor who managed to bind a Demon King. Impressive."
"What do you want?" Kaito demands, power crackling around his hands.
"To talk." Morgana pushes off the doorframe and walks closer, completely unbothered by the three dangerous beings ready to attack her. "Specifically, to offer Miss Nakamura some information she desperately needs."
"I don't need anything from you," I say coldly.
"Really?" Her smile widens. "Not even information about who REALLY ordered the massacre of your family?"
Everything inside me goes cold. "What?"
"The Sato family." Azrael's voice is harsh. "We already know—"
"The Satos were pawns." Morgana cuts him off. "Useful idiots who did the dirty work. But they didn't plan it. They didn't have the knowledge or power to seal an SSS-rank Nakamura child." She looks directly at me. "Someone much more powerful wanted your family dead. And that someone is still out there."
My heart pounds. "You're lying."
"Am I?" She pulls out a crystal—different from mine, glowing with purple light. "This contains evidence. Names. Dates. The entire conspiracy." She tosses it casually, and I catch it reflexively. "Free of charge. Consider it a gift."
I stare at the crystal in my hand. It feels warm. Dangerous.
"Why would you help me?" I ask suspiciously.
"Because the enemy of my enemy is useful." Morgana's eyes gleam. "The same people who wanted your family eliminated also want Azrael to stay buried in the Abyss. They've spent three centuries making sure he never escapes." She glances at Azrael. "But oops. He's out. And bonded to a Nakamura, no less. That's going to cause problems for them."
"Who are THEY?" Azrael demands.
"Watch the crystal and find out." Morgana turns to leave, then pauses. "Oh, and Aria? Your brother wasn't the only Nakamura who survived the massacre."
Kaito goes rigid. "What did you just say?"
"You heard me." Morgana looks back over her shoulder. "There's one more. Hidden. Waiting. And when they reveal themselves..." Her smile turns vicious. "Well. Things are going to get very interesting."
She disappears in a swirl of purple smoke before any of us can react.
The hallway falls silent.
"She's lying," Kaito says finally, but his voice shakes. "Our parents died. Our younger sister died. I searched for survivors for seventeen years. There's no one else."
"Younger sister?" I stare at him. "I had a sister?"
"You were too young to remember." Pain crosses Kaito's face. "Emiko. She was three when the attack happened. They told me she died in the fire."
"If she's alive..." I can't finish the sentence. The possibility is too huge.
"We need to watch that crystal," Azrael says grimly. "But not here. Somewhere secure."
Twenty minutes later, we're in a safe house Kaito maintains—a luxurious apartment warded with enough protective spells to keep out an army. We gather in the living room, and Kaito activates the crystal.
A holographic projection fills the air.
And what we see makes my blood run cold.
It's a meeting. Fifteen people sitting around a table. I recognize some faces—high-ranking council members, heads of powerful tamer families, even some government officials.
And leading the meeting is someone I never expected.
"That's impossible," Kaito breathes.
The head council member. The same man who presided over my ceremony today. The one who seemed so fair and just.
On the recording, he's discussing the "Nakamura problem."
"Their bloodline is too powerful," he says coldly. "They refuse to join our alliance, refuse to share their techniques. They're a threat to the established order."
"So we eliminate them," another voice agrees. "Make it look like a rival family attack. The Satos are desperate enough to take the blame if we offer them the Nakamura research."
"And the children?" someone asks.
"The older boy might be useful for study. Kill him if he resists." The head council member's face is emotionless. "The younger two are expendable. This bloodline ends tonight."
The recording ends.
I can't breathe. Can't think. The head council member—the man who just recognized me as a legitimate Nakamura heir—is the one who ordered my family's murder?
"This was a coup," Azrael says quietly. "They killed your family to steal their power and eliminate a threat to their control."
"And they're still in power," Kaito's voice shakes with rage. "Still running the council. Still controlling everything."
I stare at the empty space where the hologram was. "They know I'm alive now. They know I'm powerful."
"Which makes you a threat." Azrael's hand rests on my shoulder. "They'll come for you, Aria. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but soon."
"Let them come." My voice surprises me with its steadiness. "I survived the Satos. I'll survive this too."
"This is different." Kaito paces, agitated. "The Satos were one family. This is the entire tamer council. The most powerful organization in the world. They have resources, armies, connections—"
"And I have a Demon King," I interrupt, looking at Azrael. "Plus an angelic spirit. And my Nakamura bloodline." I stand, power crackling around my fingers. "They wanted my family dead because we were too powerful. Let's show them they failed."
Azrael's smile is fierce and proud. "That's my contractor."
My phone buzzes. A message from an unknown number.
"Congratulations on your victory today. The council would like to invite you to a private meeting tomorrow evening. Come alone. We have much to discuss about your family's legacy."
I show it to Kaito and Azrael.
"It's a trap," Kaito says immediately.
"Obviously." I stare at the message. "They're going to try to kill me."
"Or recruit you," Azrael suggests. "Offer you power and position in exchange for loyalty. Make you one of them."
"Never." The word comes out harsh.
"So we don't go," Kaito decides. "We refuse. We prepare for war—"
"No." I cut him off. "We go. But not alone."
Azrael's eyes gleam with understanding. "You want to confront them."
"I want them to know I'm not afraid." I type a response: "I'll be there."
"Aria, this is suicide," Kaito protests.
"This is strategy." I meet my brother's worried gaze. "They think I'm a naive girl who just discovered her power. They think they can control or eliminate me easily." My smile is cold. "Let's prove them wrong."
Through our bond, I feel Azrael's approval and concern mixed together.
This is dangerous, he warns mentally.
I know, I respond. But we can't hide forever. They'll keep coming. Better to face them on our terms.
You're either very brave or very stupid.
Maybe both.
His mental laugh is warm. Definitely both.
Kaito finally nods, reluctant. "Fine. But we prepare. We plan. And if anything goes wrong—"
"Then we burn the whole council to the ground," I finish.
The apartment falls silent as we all absorb what I just said. I'm talking about destroying the most powerful organization in the tamer world. It should be impossible.
But looking at Kaito's determined face and feeling Azrael's power thrumming through our bond, I realize something.
Maybe impossible is exactly what Nakamuras are made for.
My phone buzzes again. Another message from a different unknown number.
"Dear sister. I've waited so long to meet you. Tomorrow night, at the council meeting, you'll finally learn the truth about our family. Come alone, or people will die. —E"
E.
Emiko.
My supposedly dead little sister is alive.
And she's working with the people who murdered our parents.
"No," I whisper, showing the message to Kaito.
His face goes white. "It can't be. Emiko would never—"
"Unless they raised her," Azrael says grimly. "Like the Satos raised Aria. Except instead of making her weak, they made her loyal."
My hands shake. "My sister is my enemy."
"We don't know that," Kaito grabs my shoulders. "We don't know anything yet. This could be a trick—"
"It's not." I feel it in my bones. The truth of it. "She's alive. And tomorrow night, I'm going to meet her."
"And probably fight her," Azrael adds quietly.
I look at the two messages on my phone. The council's invitation. My sister's threat.
Tomorrow night, I'll face the people who destroyed my family.
And one of them is family.
"Get some rest," Kaito says, his voice heavy. "Tomorrow is going to be the hardest day of your life."
He's wrong.
The hardest day was when I died in that ritual circle.
Tomorrow is just the day I start making them pay.