POV: Aria
I can't stop staring at my phone.
One of them wants to kill me. One of the four men who just promised to protect me is actually my assassin.
My hands shake so badly I almost drop the phone again. The message from "The Syndicate" glows on the screen like a death sentence.
One of them has orders to kill you.
"Aria?" A soft voice breaks through my panic.
I look up to find Headmistress Voss standing in the doorway. Her usual strict expression is gone. Instead, she looks... sad. And tired. Like she's carrying a weight she's held for far too long.
"I need to talk to you," she says quietly. "Alone."
I glance at my phone one more time, then shove it under my pillow. "Okay."
Voss pulls a chair close to my bed and sits down with a heavy sigh. For a long moment, she just studies my face. It makes me uncomfortable, the way she's looking at me—like she's seeing someone else.
"You have your mother's eyes," she finally says. "Did you know that?"
My chest tightens. "You knew my mom?"
"I didn't just know her." Voss takes my hand gently. "We were best friends. From the time we were your age until... until the end."
I can barely breathe. "Tell me. Please. Tell me about her."
Voss's eyes get distant, remembering. "Your mother was the most powerful sorceress I'd ever met. Brilliant. Kind. Fierce when she needed to be. Everyone loved her." She pauses. "Then she met your father."
"But he's just a regular human. No magic at all."
"Exactly. Everyone told her it was impossible. That a child between a powerful sorceress and a human would either die or be born with no powers. But your mother didn't care. She loved him. And she wanted you more than anything in the world."
Tears burn my eyes. "What happened?"
"She had you. And you weren't powerless, Aria. You were too powerful." Voss squeezes my hand. "From the moment you were born, magic poured from you in ways no one had ever seen. You nearly destroyed the hospital. So your mother did something incredible and terrible."
"What?"
"She bound your powers. Locked them deep inside you. It required a ritual that used her life force—her actual life—to seal your abilities away. She knew it would kill her. She did it anyway."
I can't hold back the tears anymore. "She died for me."
"She chose you," Voss corrects firmly. "She wanted you to live a normal, safe life. Away from the people who would hunt you."
"Hunt me? Why would anyone hunt me?"
Voss stands and walks to the window, looking out at the academy grounds. "Because of what you are, Aria. You're the last living member of the Eclipse bloodline."
The words hang in the air like thunder.
"I don't understand."
"Three hundred years ago, there was a family called the Eclipse bloodline. They could do something no one else could—wield all five House powers at once. Sovereign. Shadow. Celestial. Infernal. Forgotten. All of them."
My mouth goes dry. "That's... that's impossible."
"That's what made them so dangerous." Voss turns to face me. "One person with that much power could control everything. Change everything. So the other magical families got scared. They hunted the Eclipse bloodline down and killed every single member. Or so everyone thought."
"But my mom—"
"Your mother was the last Eclipse heir. She went into hiding, changed her name, fell in love with a human to have a child who might be weak enough to avoid detection." Voss's expression is grim. "But genetics don't work that way. You inherited everything, Aria. Every. Single. Power."
I think about the time freeze in the arena. The way Sebastian's attack stopped mid-air. The lights flickering when I get emotional. The strange things that have happened my whole life.
"That's why you put me in House Forgotten," I whisper. "To hide what I am."
"Yes. But it's too late now. Everyone saw what happened in that arena. The word is spreading. Soon, every magical organization on the planet will know the Eclipse bloodline has returned."
"What do they want?"
"Some will want to use you. Control you. Weaponize your power for their own gain." Voss sits back down, her face serious. "Others will want you dead. Because as long as you exist, you're a threat to the established order. One person shouldn't have that much power, Aria. History proved that centuries ago."
My head is spinning. "I don't want any of this. I just want to be normal."
"Normal died the moment you touched that Sorting Sphere." Voss's voice is gentle but firm. "Now you have a choice to make. You can try to hide what you are and live quietly. Keep your head down. Never use your full power."
"Or?"
"Or you embrace your heritage. Learn to control your abilities. Claim the power that's rightfully yours." She leans forward. "But understand—the moment you choose power, everyone will come for you. Including those four young men who are already half in love with you, whether they realize it or not."
I shake my head. "They don't love me. They just met me."
"Eclipse bloodlines create bonds, Aria. Soul-deep connections with people meant to stand beside you. Those four felt it the moment your power awakened during the sorting ceremony. That's why they were the only ones moving during your time freeze. That's why they can't stay away from you. The magic recognized them."
"Recognized them as what?"
"As your protectors. Your anchors. Your..." Voss hesitates. "The Eclipse records called them Soul Mates. Multiple people bonded to one Eclipse heir to help them survive the weight of all that power."
This is insane. All of it.
"I need time to think."
"You don't have time." Voss stands to leave. "The academy council will be back tomorrow with more authority and less patience. They want to lock you up 'for everyone's safety.' You need to decide tonight what kind of person you want to be. The invisible girl who hides? Or the queen who rises?"
She walks to the door, then pauses. "Your mother gave everything so you could choose your own path, Aria. Don't waste her sacrifice by being afraid of who you are."
Then she's gone.
I sit in the quiet medical wing, my mind racing.
My mother died for me. I have powers that could kill me—or make me the most powerful person alive. Four men are connected to me by magic I don't understand. And everyone wants me either dead or controlled.
My phone buzzes.
I grab it, expecting another threatening message.
Instead, I find something worse.
A video file from an unknown number.
My hands shake as I press play.
The video shows a dark room. Someone tied to a chair. As the camera moves closer, I see his face.
My father.
He's bruised. Bleeding. Terrified.
A voice speaks off-camera: "Hello, little Eclipse. We have your father. If you want him to survive the night, you'll come alone to the old lighthouse at midnight. No guards. No protectors. Just you. Oh, and Aria? Don't bother telling anyone. We're watching. One word to your precious protectors, and Daddy dies screaming."
The video cuts to black.
I stare at the screen, my heart pounding so hard I think it might explode.
They have my father. The man who abandoned me to alcohol. Who let Regina destroy my life. Who never protected me from anything.
But he's still my father.
And now I have to choose: save him alone and probably die, or let him die to keep myself safe.
The clock on the wall reads 11:00 PM.
One hour to decide.
One hour to figure out who I really am.