ELARA'S POV
The chains exploded into dust.
I didn't know how I did it. One second I was trapped, Ravenna's blade at my throat. The next, power erupted from somewhere deep inside me—raw, wild, mine—and the magical chains just... disintegrated.
Ravenna stumbled backward, shock replacing her smug smile. "Impossible. Those chains were forged with—"
"With stolen shadow magic," Kaelen finished, his own chains crumbling away. He stood slowly, amber eyes fixed on me with an intensity that made my skin burn. "Magic that recognizes its true master when she finally wakes up."
"I don't understand," I gasped, staring at my hands. They glowed faintly silver, power crackling between my fingers like captured lightning. "How did I—"
"Because you're not just a summoner, little forsaken one." Kaelen crossed to me in three strides, ignoring the mages raising weapons around us. His hand caught my wrist, lifting it. "You never were."
My silver bracelet gleamed in the dim light. The one I'd worn since I was five. The one Mother said was a family heirloom, a protection charm.
"That," Kaelen said softly, "is a suppression charm. Ancient magic designed to lock away power so completely the victim never knows it exists."
My blood went cold. "What?"
"Someone's been keeping you weak your entire life." His fingers traced the bracelet's edge. "Binding your magic. Hiding what you really are." His eyes met mine. "May I?"
I should say no. Ask questions first. Demand explanations.
Instead, I nodded.
Kaelen's grip tightened on the bracelet. Shadows wrapped around the silver, squeezing. The metal groaned, resisting.
Then it shattered.
Pain exploded through my body.
No—not pain. Power. Years of suppressed magic flooding back all at once, a tidal wave crashing through every cell. I screamed as it tore through me, wild and chaotic and absolutely intoxicating.
My vision went white. Then silver. Then something darker.
When I could see again, the world had changed.
Colors were sharper. Sounds clearer. I could see the magic now—threads of power woven through everything. The cathedral walls hummed with Ravenna's blood spells. The mages glowed with their stolen energy. And Kaelen...
Kaelen blazed like a dying star, beautiful and terrifying.
"Your eyes," Ravenna whispered, actual fear in her voice now. "They're—"
"Shadow-touched," Kaelen said, something like pride in his tone. "Silver with black flecks. The mark of true shadow-bonded bloodlines." He turned to Ravenna. "You know what that means, don't you, High Mage?"
Ravenna's face went pale. "The Thornebloods were eliminated. The entire line was—"
"Suppressed," Kaelen corrected. "Not eliminated. Hidden. Someone very clever made sure the world forgot the Thornebloods were once the most powerful shadow-bonded family in existence."
My legs gave out. Kaelen caught me before I hit the ground, steadying me with hands that felt like fire against my skin.
"I'm shadow-bonded?" The words felt foreign in my mouth. "My family—my mother—knew?"
"Look at the bracelet." Kaelen held up the broken pieces. Symbols I'd never noticed before glowed faintly on the inside. "This level of binding magic? It takes years to craft. Someone started suppressing your power when you were very young."
Memories crashed through me. Mother insisting I wear the bracelet always. "For protection," she'd said. Father refusing to let me study magic, claiming our family had "no aptitude for it." Damien getting every opportunity while I got nothing.
They knew. They all knew what I was and buried it.
"Why?" My voice cracked. "Why would they do this to me?"
"Fear." Ravenna spoke up, recovering her composure. "Shadow-bonded bloodlines were hunted during the Purge six hundred years ago. The Seraphim wanted them eliminated. Some families went into hiding, suppressing their magic to survive." Her smile turned cruel. "Your mother probably thought she was saving you."
"By making me powerless?" Rage built in my chest, hot and sharp. "By letting everyone treat me like I was worthless?"
"By keeping you alive," Ravenna countered. "If the Seraphim discovered an active shadow-bonded mage, they'd execute you immediately." She gestured to Kaelen. "Just like they executed his precious Selene."
The name hit Kaelen like a physical blow. His hands tightened on my shoulders.
"Don't speak her name," he said quietly. Dangerously.
"Why not? She's relevant." Ravenna's confidence was returning. "Elara isn't just shadow-bonded. She's Selene's soul reborn. That's why the tether formed so easily." She looked at me. "Did he tell you what happened to her? How she died screaming while the Seraphim burned her alive?"
Through the bond, I felt Kaelen's anguish. Six centuries old but still raw as an open wound.
"Stop," I said.
"They burned her because she loved him," Ravenna continued, ignoring me. "Because she chose a Shadow King over her own kind. And now her soul is back, making the same stupid choice—"
"I said stop!"
Power exploded from me again. Not wild this time. Focused. Precise. A wave of shadow-fire that slammed into Ravenna and threw her across the cathedral. She hit the far wall with a sickening crack.
Silence fell.
I stared at my hands, shocked. I'd done that. Controlled it.
The other mages backed away, fear replacing their confidence.
"Well," Kaelen said softly. "That was impressive."
"I didn't mean to—"
"Yes, you did." He turned me to face him, hands gentle on my face. "You meant every bit of it. You're just not used to having power that actually listens to you."
His thumb brushed my cheek, and I realized I was crying. Tears I hadn't even felt falling.
"My whole life was a lie," I whispered. "Everything they told me—everything I believed about myself—"
"Was designed to keep you small and controllable." Anger flickered in his amber eyes. "They were terrified of what you'd become if you ever woke up."
"And what's that?"
His smile was sharp and fierce. "Dangerous."
The word should scare me. Instead, it felt like freedom.
Ravenna groaned from across the cathedral, pushing herself up. Blood trickled from her temple. "You'll regret that, girl."
"My name," I said clearly, "is Elara. And I'm done regretting things."
I raised my hand, shadows gathering instinctively. The power felt natural now. Like I'd been holding my breath for twenty-eight years and finally remembered how to breathe.
"Leave," I commanded. "All of you. Or I'll show you exactly what a shadow-bonded Thorneblood can do when she stops holding back."
The mages looked to Ravenna. She glared at me with pure hatred, but even she recognized the threat.
"This isn't over," she hissed.
"I'm counting on it," I replied.
They retreated. Slowly. Keeping weapons raised until they disappeared through the cathedral doors.
The moment they were gone, my knees buckled.
Kaelen caught me again, lowering us both to the ground. "Easy. Power surge like that—your body isn't used to it yet."
"How long?" I asked, leaning against him because my muscles wouldn't cooperate. "How long was I suppressed?"
"Based on the bracelet's construction? Since you were very young. Five, maybe six years old."
Twenty-three years. Twenty-three years of being told I was ordinary. Worthless. Nothing special.
All lies.
"I want to see her," I said suddenly. "My mother. I want her to look me in the eye and tell me why she did this."
"Careful." Kaelen's arms tightened around me. "Confronting family rarely ends well."
"I don't care. She stole my life. I deserve answers."
"You deserve revenge," he corrected softly. "There's a difference."
I pulled back to look at him. "Is that what you want? Revenge on the Seraphim for killing Selene?"
"Yes." No hesitation. "I want to watch them burn for what they did. And I will, once the curse is broken."
"And me? Am I just part of that revenge? A tool to break your curse so you can go back to your war?"
He was quiet for a long moment. "I thought so. When you first summoned me, I thought I could use you and feel nothing. Break the curse and discard the weak human who'd served her purpose."
"And now?"
His hand came up to cup my face, thumb tracing my cheekbone. "Now I'm starting to realize you're not weak. Not Selene's pale shadow. You're something entirely different." His voice dropped. "Something that terrifies me more than six hundred years of torture ever did."
"Why?"
"Because I'm starting to care what happens to you. And caring means vulnerability. Vulnerability means—"
The cathedral doors exploded inward.
Not mages this time.
Seraphim. Dozens of them. Armor gleaming white and gold, wings spread wide, weapons drawn.
And leading them was Aurelia, her starlight blade burning bright.
"Found you," she said triumphantly.
But it was the figure behind her that made my heart stop.
My mother. Cassandra Thorne. Standing with the Seraphim. Looking at me with cold, emotionless eyes.
"I'm sorry, Elara," she said, voice completely flat. "But this is for your own good."
Aurelia raised her blade, pointing it at Kaelen.
"Shadow King Kaelen, you are under arrest for crimes against the Seraphim Order. The girl will be remanded to her family's custody for immediate suppression and rehabilitation."
"Rehabilitation?" I repeated numbly.
Mother stepped forward. "We have to put the bracelet back on, darling. Your power—it's too dangerous. You'll hurt yourself."
Understanding hit me like ice water.
She hadn't just sup
pressed my power to protect me.
She'd done it to control me.
And she was going to do it again.