Aria's POV
I couldn't breathe.
Aunt Moira's black eyes stared into mine as the candles around her flared higher. The door was locked. The windows were sealed with some kind of dark energy I could actually see crawling across the glass like living smoke.
"You refused the tea this morning," Moira said, her voice layered with something inhuman. "That was very stupid, Aria. The suppression spell is weakening faster than I expected."
"What are you talking about?" My voice shook. "What spell? What's happening?"
"You're waking up, dear niece. And I can't let that happen. Not yet." She raised her hands, and dark energy gathered around her fingers. "I need you weak. Controllable. Human."
The energy shot toward me.
I screamed and threw my hands up to protect myself—
Silver light exploded from my palms.
The dark magic hit my light and shattered like glass. The force threw both of us backward. I slammed into the door. Moira crashed into her candles, which scattered across the floor.
I stared at my hands in shock.
They were glowing. Actually glowing with silver light.
What was happening to me?
"Impossible," Moira hissed, getting to her feet. "You shouldn't be able to access your powers yet. The spell should hold until midnight—"
She froze. Her eyes widened.
"What time is it?" she whispered.
I looked at the clock on the wall.
11:58 PM.
Two minutes until December 22nd.
Two minutes until my eighteenth birthday.
"No," Moira breathed. "No, no, no—"
The plants in the shop started moving.
Every flower, every vine, every leaf—they all turned toward me at once. And then they started whispering.
"The heir... the heir awakens... finally, finally..."
I backed against the door, my heart hammering.
"This isn't real. This isn't happening—"
"Oh, it's very real." Moira's voice turned vicious. "And in two minutes, every enemy you have will know exactly where you are. I wanted to drain your powers before your awakening, but you just couldn't stay weak for two more days, could you?"
The clock struck midnight.
Everything exploded.
Silver light burst from my body like a star going supernova. The windows shattered. The door blew off its hinges. Plants erupted into wild growth, vines shooting across the floor and up the walls.
And I could hear everything.
The roses screaming in joy. The ivy singing ancient songs. The soil beneath the floorboards humming with life.
Every living thing in the shop was talking to me all at once.
I fell to my knees, clutching my head. "Stop! Please stop!"
"Princess... heir... light-bringer... finally come home..."
"I'm not a princess! I'm nobody!"
But the voices didn't stop. They got louder.
And then I felt it.
Something else waking up inside me. Something huge and powerful and ancient.
My silver locket burned hot against my chest. I grabbed it, and the moment my fingers touched the metal, images flooded my mind.
A beautiful woman with violet eyes holding a baby. My mother. I knew somehow it was my mother.
A man with kind eyes and a crown of silver leaves. My father.
A palace made of living crystal surrounded by gardens that glowed with magic.
And then flames. Screams. Dark figures attacking. My parents fighting desperately to protect—
To protect me.
"No," I whispered. "No, this can't be my life. This can't be real—"
A massive explosion rocked the building.
The dark barrier around the shop shattered like glass. And through the broken window, I saw him.
The man from the rooftop.
He stood in the alley surrounded by shadows that moved like living creatures. His eyes blazed silver—the same silver as my light. His hands crackled with dark magic.
And he was looking directly at me.
"Aria!" he shouted. "Get away from her! Now!"
Before I could move, Moira grabbed my arm.
"You're not going anywhere," she snarled. "The Conclave paid too much for you to let some lovesick Protector ruin everything—"
The man—the Protector—raised his hand.
A blade made of solid shadow formed in his palm.
He was going to kill Moira. I could see it in his eyes.
"Wait!" I screamed. "Don't—"
But I never finished the sentence.
Because Shadow—my cat Shadow—appeared on the windowsill.
And he was changing.
His small black body stretched and twisted. Fur became skin. Paws became hands. In seconds, where my cat had been sitting now stood a man.
He was beautiful in an otherworldly way. Silver hair that fell to his shoulders. Pointed ears. Ancient green eyes that looked at me with such relief I almost cried.
He wore strange clothes that seemed woven from starlight itself.
And he was bowing to me.
"Your Highness," he said in a voice like velvet and midnight. "Forgive me for the deception. I am Lord Obsidian of the Starlight Court, bound as your familiar and sworn protector. I have waited eighteen years for this moment."
I couldn't speak. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't think.
My cat was a person. A magical person with pointed ears who was calling me "Your Highness."
"This is a dream," I whispered. "I'm dreaming. I have to be—"
"You're not dreaming, little light." Obsidian's expression was gentle. "You're finally waking up."
Moira screamed in rage and threw dark magic at Obsidian.
The Protector's shadow blade shot across the room and deflected it.
Then he was there—appearing out of nowhere in a swirl of darkness. He grabbed Moira by the throat and slammed her against the wall.
"You," he growled, "are done hurting her."
But Moira just laughed. Even with a hand around her throat, even facing death, she laughed.
"Too late, Protector. The signal went out the moment she awakened. Every agent of the Shadow Conclave within a hundred miles knows exactly where she is." Her black eyes gleamed with triumph. "They're already coming. Dozens of them. And there's only one of you."
The Protector's jaw clenched.
"Actually," Obsidian said coldly, "there are two of us."
"Two against an army?" Moira cackled. "You'll all die tonight. The girl. You. Everyone."
The Protector looked at me then. Really looked at me.
And in his silver eyes, I saw something that made my chest ache.
Devotion. Protection. And something deeper. Something that looked almost like—
"Aria Luminae," he said quietly. "Heir to the throne of the Veiled Sanctuary. I am Kieran Ashford, sworn to protect your bloodline with my life. I served your parents. I've been searching for you since the night they died."
Tears were streaming down my face. "My parents are dead?"
"Yes." His voice broke slightly. "And I failed them. But I won't fail you. I swear on everything I am—you will survive this night."
Outside, I heard them.
Footsteps. Dozens of footsteps.
Voices shouting orders.
Dark magic gathering like a storm.
The Shadow Conclave had arrived.
And they were coming for me.
Kieran released Moira and turned to face the door, shadows gathering around him like armor.
"Obsidian," he said. "Get her out of here. Take her to the Sanctuary. I'll hold them off."
"You'll die," Obsidian said flatly.
"Probably." Kieran didn't look away from the door. "But that's my job. Protecting her is yours."
"No!" I grabbed his arm without thinking. "You can't—I don't even know you—you can't die for me!"
Kieran looked down at where my hand touched his arm. For a moment, his hard expression softened.
"I've been waiting eighteen years just to see you safe," he said quietly. "Dying to make that happen? That's the easiest choice I've ever made."
The door exploded inward.
And twenty warriors in black robes poured into the shop, their hands crackling with deadly magic.