Kaine's POV
One moment she's there. The next, the ground swallows her whole.
"SERA!"
I dive after her without thinking, my hand reaching for the space where she vanished. The black tendrils grab my wrist, burning like acid, trying to pull me down too.
Good.
I let them.
The shadows drag me through the broken sidewalk into a tunnel of pure darkness. I'm falling, but it feels like drowning. Cold presses against my skin from all sides. Whispers echo around me—ancient voices speaking in languages older than my curse.
Through the bond, I feel Sera's terror. She's screaming, tumbling through the void below me. The connection between us pulls tight like a rope, guiding me toward her.
I haven't felt fear in three thousand years. I forgot what it tastes like—bitter and sharp, making my heart pound in a way it hasn't since I was human.
She's going to die. The thought crashes through me. This mortal girl who accidentally freed me, who somehow created an impossible bond, who looked at my memories and felt sorry for me—she's going to die, and I can't stop it.
Unacceptable.
I focus my power, forming wings of shadow that snap out from my back. The falling slows. I angle downward, diving faster, reaching for her.
There. A flash of her dark hair in the void below.
I put on a burst of speed and catch her around the waist. She screams and fights until she realizes it's me.
"I've got you," I say, though my voice sounds strange. Emotional. Concerned. Things I'm not supposed to feel.
"What's happening?" she gasps, clinging to me. Her fingers dig into my shirt, and even through the fabric, I can feel the bond flare wherever she touches.
"Someone's pulling you into the Shadowlands. A demon realm."
"Can you stop it?"
"I'm trying."
I spread my wings wider, pushing against the pull. But whatever magic is dragging us down is strong. Too strong. It feels familiar somehow—old power, older than most demons I know.
We burst out of the tunnel into a massive underground cavern. I manage to slow our fall enough that we hit the ground hard but not fatally. We roll apart, both gasping.
I'm on my feet in an instant, scanning for threats. The cavern is enormous, carved from black stone. Torches burn with green fire along the walls. And in the center, sitting on a throne made of bones, is someone I never thought I'd see again.
"Hello, brother."
The word hits me like a physical blow.
Sera scrambles to her feet beside me, confused. "Brother? You have a brother?"
I can't answer. Can't breathe. Because it's impossible. He died. I watched him die three thousand years ago.
But there he sits, looking exactly as I remember. Same dark hair, same sharp features, same cold smile that used to mean he was planning something terrible.
"Surprised?" Dorian asks, standing from his throne. "You thought the curse killed me. It was supposed to. But I found a way around death, just like you did. Different method, same result—immortality."
"You're supposed to be dead." My voice sounds hollow.
"So are you, technically." He steps closer, his eyes flicking to Sera with interest. "But here we both are, alive and well. And you've brought me such an interesting gift."
I move in front of Sera instinctively. The bond thrums with her fear, and it makes my protective instincts surge stronger.
"She's not a gift. She's not yours."
"No?" Dorian tilts his head. "Then why did she activate the Realm Walker bloodline in my territory? Why did her power call out to every dark being within a hundred miles?" He smiles wider. "She doesn't even know what she is, does she?"
Sera's hand grabs the back of my shirt. "What's he talking about?"
"The Realm Walker bloodline was thought extinct," Dorian explains, circling us like a predator. "They were mortals with the power to travel between dimensions, to see and manipulate the threads of fate itself. Dangerous creatures. Most were hunted down and killed centuries ago." He stops, studying Sera. "But apparently, one bloodline survived. Hidden. Dormant. Until tonight."
"I'm not dangerous," Sera says, but her voice shakes. "I'm nobody. I'm just—"
"Just powerful enough to break a three-thousand-year-old curse with a drop of blood," Dorian interrupts. "Just special enough to bond with the Eternal Sovereign himself. Just lucky enough to be standing in front of someone who's been searching for a Realm Walker for centuries."
Ice floods my veins. "What do you want with her?"
"What I've always wanted, brother. Freedom. True freedom." He gestures around the cavern. "This realm is a prison. Beautiful, yes. Powerful, certainly. But still a prison. I'm bound here by the same cosmic laws you used to enforce. But a Realm Walker can break those bonds. She can rewrite the rules that chain me."
"No." The word comes out flat and final.
"I'm not asking your permission, Kaine." Dorian's smile vanishes, replaced by something cold and hungry. "I'm taking what I need."
He moves fast—faster than he should be able to. His hand shoots out, reaching for Sera.
I block him, our forearms crashing together with enough force to crack the stone beneath our feet. Power explodes between us—shadow against shadow, immortal against immortal.
"You can't protect her forever," Dorian hisses, pushing against me. "The bond makes you weak. You feel things now. Fear. Worry. Love, eventually. Those emotions will destroy you."
"Better than being empty."
We break apart, both breathing hard. Dorian's demons materialize from the shadows—dozens of them, surrounding us.
Through the bond, I feel Sera's terror spike. But underneath it, something else stirs. Something that feels like power waking up.
"Last chance, brother," Dorian says. "Give me the girl. Walk away. I'll even let you return to your precious Veil Court with no hard feelings."
"Never."
"Then you'll die with her."
He signals his demons. They surge forward.
I prepare to fight, knowing we're outnumbered, knowing this might be the end. Three thousand years of immortality, ended by trying to save one mortal girl I met an hour ago.
But then Sera screams.
Not in fear this time. In power.
Golden light explodes from her body, blasting outward in a shockwave that sends demons flying. The light wraps around both of us, and through the bond, I feel what's happening.
Her power is waking up. The Realm Walker abilities buried in her blood are activating, triggered by extreme danger.
But she has no training. No control. The power is wild, burning through her like fire.
"Sera, stop!" I grab her shoulders. "You're burning yourself out!"
"I can't stop it!" she gasps. Her eyes are glowing gold now, bright and terrifying. "It won't stop!"
The golden light intensifies, and I realize with horror what's about to happen. She's opening a portal. Not a small one—a massive dimensional tear that could drop us anywhere. Any realm. Any time. Any danger.
"Sera, focus on me!" I pull her close, trying to anchor her through the bond. "Listen to my voice. You control the power, not the other way around!"
But it's too late.
Reality rips open behind us with a sound like the universe screaming. The pull is irresistible, dragging us backward into the portal.
The last thing I see is Dorian's shocked face as we're sucked into the dimensional tear.
Then we're tumbling through chaos—through a thousand different realms flashing past, through colors that don't exist, through spaces between spaces.
Sera's power finally runs out. She goes limp in my arms, unconscious.
The portal spits us out into cold air and bright sunlight. We're falling again, but this time through a normal sky.
Below us, I see a city. Not New York. Somewhere else. Somewhere I don't recognize.
And we're falling toward it fast. Too fast.
I wrap my wings around Sera, protecting her body with mine as we plummet toward the ground.
This is going to hurt.