Cassandra's POV
The next morning, Raphael wakes me before dawn.
"Get up," he says, throwing open my door. "If you want to survive the ritual, you need to be stronger. Much stronger."
I groan and pull the blanket over my head. "It's barely light out."
"The Void doesn't sleep. Neither do you." He yanks the blanket away. "Training starts in five minutes. Don't be late."
He leaves, and I drag myself out of bed. Every muscle still aches from yesterday's battle. But I meant what I said—I'm not giving up.
I find the others already outside. Kieran stretches like a cat. Zara yawns over a cup of coffee. Lucian stands apart from everyone, staring at the weird sky.
"Morning, sunshine!" Zara hands me coffee. "Ready to get your butt kicked?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"Nope."
Raphael claps his hands. "Listen up. Three weeks isn't much time to prepare for what you're attempting. The convergence happens at the Cloisters in New York. The Void's prison is weakest there, which means—"
"That's where Malachi will be waiting," Lucian finishes. "With an army."
"Exactly. So Cassandra needs combat training, power control, and tactical knowledge. All in twenty-one days." Raphael looks at me. "No pressure."
"Great," I mutter.
The training is brutal.
Raphael teaches me to fight hand-to-hand. Every time I mess up, he sweeps my legs and I hit the ground. Hard.
"Again!" he barks.
I get up. Get knocked down. Get up again.
After an hour, I'm covered in bruises.
"Can we take a break?" I gasp.
"The Void won't give you breaks." But he hands me water. "You're improving. Slowly."
Next, Lucian works with me on power control. He creates targets made of shadow, and I have to hit them with light without destroying the forest.
"Precision," he says. "Power means nothing if you can't control where it goes."
I miss the first ten targets. Hit Kieran by accident on the eleventh. He yelps and glares at me.
"Sorry!"
"Focus!" Lucian snaps.
By midday, I can hit five targets in a row without missing. My hands shake from exhaustion, but I'm getting better.
Zara teaches me about supernatural creatures—what they are, how to fight them, which ones are allies and which are enemies.
"Vampires are tricky," she explains. "Some work with Shadow Court. Others work for themselves. Never trust one completely."
"What about werewolves?"
"Loyal but temperamental. Don't insult their pack." She grins. "Also, they smell weird."
Kieran teaches me dirty fighting—how to use anything as a weapon, where to hit to cause maximum damage, how to survive when I'm outnumbered.
"Forget honor," he says. "In a real fight, you do whatever it takes to live."
He comes at me fast. I barely dodge.
"Eyes!" he shouts. "Throat! Knees! Those are your targets!"
I try to hit his knee. He blocks and flips me onto my back.
"Better. But not good enough."
We go again. And again. And again.
By evening, I can barely stand. Everything hurts. I have cuts, bruises, and burns from my own power misfiring.
But I'm stronger than I was this morning.
"Good work today," Raphael says at dinner. "Tomorrow will be harder."
"How is that possible?" I groan.
Everyone laughs.
That night, Lucian finds me sitting outside, looking at the stars that aren't really stars.
"You did well today," he says.
"I got my butt kicked repeatedly."
"Yes. But you got back up every time. That's what matters." He sits beside me. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Why are you really doing this? You could ask me to break the bond right now. Take your chances. Walk away from all of this."
I think about it. "Because I'm tired of being weak. My whole life, people have pushed me around. My boss. Marcus. Simone. Even you." I look at him. "But now I have power. Real power. And I'm not giving that up just because it's hard."
"Even if it kills you?"
"Even then. At least I'll die fighting instead of being someone's victim." I pause. "What about you? Why are you really helping me? And don't say it's just about the Void."
He's quiet for a long moment. "When I fell from Heaven, I lost everything. My home. My family. My purpose. For three thousand years, I've been fighting a war I didn't choose, making deals that cost me pieces of my soul." He meets my eyes. "But when I met you—when I saw you refuse to break even when you'd lost everything—I remembered why I fought in the first place. To protect people like you. People who deserve better than the world gives them."
Something warm spreads through my chest. "That's... actually sweet."
"Don't tell anyone. I have a reputation to maintain."
I smile. "Your secret's safe with me."
We sit in comfortable silence until Zara calls us in.
The next two weeks pass in a blur of training, eating, sleeping, and training again. Every day I get stronger. Faster. Better at controlling my power.
Raphael teaches me to combine light and shadow like I did against Malachi. Lucian shows me how to pull power through the bond without draining him. Kieran drills combat moves until they're instinct. Zara teaches me basic spells and protection wards.
By day fourteen, I can fight all four of them at once and last more than ten minutes.
By day eighteen, I can create shields of light that actually hold against Kieran's shadow attacks.
By day twenty, I feel ready. Not confident. But ready.
On the twenty-first day, Raphael calls everyone together.
"Tomorrow is the convergence," he says seriously. "Tonight, we go over the plan one more time. No mistakes. No improvisation. If this goes wrong, you both die."
He spreads out maps of the Cloisters—an old monastery in northern Manhattan.
"The prison is here, in the main chapel. At midnight exactly, the convergence happens. The barrier between worlds thins, and the Void's essence will leak through for exactly one hour."
"We need to capture a drop of that essence," Lucian continues. "Get in, get out, survive."
"What about Malachi?" I ask.
"He'll be there. With his army." Raphael points to various spots on the map. "Void spawn, corrupted humans, maybe even demons. They'll try to stop you from completing the ritual."
"So we fight through them," Kieran says.
"No. You create a distraction." Raphael looks at him and Zara. "Keep Malachi busy while Lucian and Cassandra perform the ritual."
"That's suicide," Zara protests.
"That's the plan." Raphael's voice is firm. "I'll be there too, holding the wards. But once the ritual starts, you two are on your own."
I look at Lucian. Through the bond, I feel his fear. Not for himself. For me.
"We can do this," I say, trying to sound confident.
"We have to," he replies.
That night, I can't sleep. Tomorrow, everything changes. We either save ourselves or die trying.
I'm staring at the ceiling when I feel Lucian through the bond. He's awake too, thinking the same things.
I send him a thought: Scared?
Terrified, he responds. You?
Same.
We're quiet for a moment. Then: No matter what happens tomorrow, I'm glad I met you.
Even though I lied?
Even though you lied. I pause. You gave me power when I was powerless. Purpose when I had none. A chance to fight back.
You gave me hope when I had none, he sends back. And something I didn't expect.
What's that?
A reason to want to survive beyond just duty.
My chest tightens. Are you saying—
I'm saying I care about you, Cassandra. More than I should. More than is probably wise.
I sit up in bed, heart racing. Through the bond, I can feel his sincerity. His fear that I'll reject him.
I care about you too, I send back. Even though you're an arrogant, secretive fallen angel who lies.
Even though you're a stubborn, reckless human who never listens.
We're a disaster.
A perfect disaster.
I smile in the darkness. Get some sleep, Lucian. Tomorrow, we save the world.
Tomorrow, we save each other.
I finally fall asleep feeling something I haven't felt in weeks.
Hope.
The next day arrives too fast.
We prepare in silence. Weapons. Wards. Plans reviewed one final time.
Raphael opens a portal to New York, and we step through into the cold December night.
The Cloisters sits on a hill, dark and ancient. Power radiates from it—the prison straining against its bonds.
"Two hours until midnight," Raphael says. "Get in position."
We split up. Kieran and Zara circle around to the east entrance. Raphael heads to the north to set up protective wards. Lucian and I approach the main chapel from the south.
Everything is quiet. Too quiet.
"Something's wrong," Lucian whispers.
He's right. Where are the Void spawn? Where's Malachi?
We reach the chapel doors. They swing open before we touch them.
Inside, candles light the space with flickering shadows. And there, standing in front of the altar where the prison glows with dark energy—
Malachi.
But he's not alone.
Marcus stands beside him. My ex-fiancé, who should be in jail, smiling his familiar cruel smile.
And on Malachi's other side—
No.
No, it can't be.
"Mom?" I whisper.
My mother stands there, but wrong. Her eyes glow silver like Malachi's. Dark veins spread across her skin. She smiles, and it's not her smile.
"Hello, baby," she says in a voice that's hers but also isn't. "Did you miss me?"
Lucian grabs my arm. "That's not your mother. It's a trick—"
"Oh, it's her," Malachi says cheerfully. "I visited her hospital room last week. Such a lovely woman. So worried about her daughter. So desperate to help." His smile widens. "I offered her a deal. Her life for your cooperation. She said yes."
"You're lying!" But I can feel through the bond—Lucian's horror. He knows it's true.
"Come now, little Contractor." Malachi gestures to me. "The convergence happens in one hour. You can perform the ritual and try to save yourself. Or you can surrender to me now, and I'll let your mother go free."
"Don't listen to him!" Mom—or the thing wearing her face—suddenly screams. For a second, I see my real mother in her eyes, fighting. "Run, Cassandra! It's a trap! He's going to—"
Malachi touches her shoulder, and she goes silent, eyes glazing over again.
"Tick tock," he says. "Choose quickly. Your life or hers. You can't save both."
I look at Lucian. At the prison. At my mother.
And I realize with cold certainty:
This was always going to be an impossible choice.
"Cassandra," Lucian says quietly. "Whatever you decide, I'm with you."
Malachi laughs. "How touching. Now choose, before I make the choice for you."
My hands shake as I raise them.
Light and shadow swirl around my fingers.
And I make my decision. The power keeps pouring out of me like water from a broken dam.
Footsteps pound in the hallway. Lucian bursts through the door, Kieran right behind him.
Lucian sees the light and swears. "She's manifesting already. It's too soon—she's not ready!"
"What do we do?" Kieran asks.
"We contain it before she burns the whole building down." Lucian approaches me carefully, hands up. "Cassandra, listen to me. You need to pull it back. The power is yours—you control it."
"I can't!" The light is getting brighter, stronger. Things in the room start to float. "I don't know how!"
"Yes, you do." He's right in front of me now, close enough to touch. "Feel the power. Don't fight it. Don't fear it. Just... breathe."
"That's your advice? Breathe?"
"Trust me."
I don't trust him. But I don't have a choice.
I close my eyes and try to feel the power instead of fearing it. It's like a river inside me, wild and rushing and desperate to get out.
Slowly, carefully, I imagine pulling it back. Like closing a faucet. Like taking a deep breath and holding it.
The light dims. The floating objects settle. The cold recedes.
When I open my eyes, the room is normal again except for the broken window and frost.
Lucian lets out a long breath. "Well. That was exciting."
My legs give out. Kieran catches me before I hit the floor.
"I'm sorry," I whisper. "I didn't mean to—"
"It's not your fault." Lucian kneels beside me. "Your power is waking up faster than expected. The attack at the hospital accelerated the process." He looks at Kieran. "We need to start her training immediately. Tonight."
"Tonight?" Zara protests. "She needs rest!"
"She needs control," Lucian says sharply. "Before her power tears her apart from the inside."
Kieran helps me to my feet. "Can you walk?"
I nod, though I'm shaking so hard my teeth chatter.
Lucian leads us down to the basement—a massive space filled with training equipment and weapons. The walls are covered in those silver lines I saw before, glowing brighter here.
"Reinforced wards," Lucian explains. "Whatever you do down here won't damage the building." He turns to face me. "First lesson: your power responds to emotion. Fear makes it wild. Anger makes it destructive. You need to learn to stay calm."
"How am I supposed to stay calm when monsters are trying to kill me?"
"Practice." He gestures to the center of the room. "Attack me."
I stare at him. "What?"
"Use your power. Try to hit me."
"I'm not going to—"
"Do it!" His voice cracks like a whip. "Or the next time Void spawn attack, you'll freeze up and die. Is that what you want?"
No. It's not.
I raise my hands, and light flickers across my palms. It feels easier this time, like the power knows what I want.
I throw it at Lucian.
He dodges effortlessly, moving faster than any human could. The light hits the wall behind him and disappears into the wards.
"Again," he commands.
I try again. And again. And again.
He dodges every single shot.
Frustration builds in my chest. I'm tired and scared and angry, and I channel all of it into the next blast.
This one is different. Bigger. Brighter.
It catches Lucian in the chest and sends him flying backward into the wall.
Silence.
"Oh God," I breathe. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"
Lucian stands up, brushing dust off his suit. He's smiling.
"There it is," he says. "That's the power I need. The power that can save the world." He walks toward me, and his eyes glow silver. "Now let's see how much more you can do."
The training lasts for hours. By the end, I can barely stand. But I can control the light. I can call it, shape it, throw it without destroying everything around me.
When Lucian finally calls it quits, the sun is rising outside.
"You did well," he says, and it sounds like he means it. "Rest today. Tonight, we train again."
I stumble back to my room with Zara's help. Every muscle screams. My head pounds.
But as I collapse onto the bed, I feel something new.
Not just power. Not just fear.
Pride.
I'm not helpless anymore. I'm not the woman Marcus and Simone destroyed.
I'm becoming something else. Somet
hing stronger.
Maybe even something dangerous.
I fall asleep with light still flickering across my fingertips and one thought in my mind:
Let the monsters come. Next time, I'll be ready.