Celeste's POV
The assassins come at dawn.
I'm barely asleep on the safe house couch when glass shatters. A dark figure drops through the window, blade gleaming.
Pure instinct I blast him with memory magic before I'm even fully awake. He collapses, screaming, trapped in whatever nightmare I pulled from his mind.
We're under attack! Silas roars from the bedroom.
More windows break. Three assassins pour in, moving like shadows, weapons drawn.
Luna scrambles behind the kitchen counter. I throw up a magical shield just as a blade whistles past my head.
Silas fights two at once, his fists glowing with protective magic. He's fast, brutal, trained for this.
But we're outnumbered.
An assassin grabs me from behind, knife at my throat. Come quietly or
I don't let him finish. I slam my head backward into his nose, spin, and shove a memory blast directly into his brain. He drops like a stone.
Behind you! Luna screams.
I turn. The last assassin lunges.
Then Damian crashes through the front door and shoots the assassin with some kind of stunning spell. The man goes down hard.
Damian's eyes find mine immediately. You okay?
I'm shaking but alive. Yeah. You?
Fine. He surveys the unconscious attackers. Protocol Seven. Aurora didn't waste time.
Protocol Seven? I ask.
Kill order. Silas checks the assassins for ID, finding Council marks on their weapons. She's authorized our execution. These are just the first wave.
My stomach drops. There'll be more?
Many more. Damian pulls out his phone. We're out of time. We move the plan up. We hit the Council headquarters tonight.
Tonight? Luna squeaks. We're not ready!
We don't have a choice. They know where we are now. Damian looks at me. I have a facility across town more secure, harder to breach. We plan there. Gear up. And tonight, we end this.
Two hours later, I stand in Damian's secret facility a basement level of his company building where technology and magic blend together. Screens show maps of Council headquarters. Magical weapons line the walls.
It's like a war room.
Luna paces nervously. Silas loads equipment into bags. Damian stands at a central table covered in blueprints.
Here's the situation, Damian says, pointing at the map. Council headquarters has seven levels. The evidence vault is on Level Five. The broadcast room where we can transmit worldwide is on Level Seven.
And Aurora? I ask.
Probably on Level Seven too. In the main Council chamber. His jaw tightens. She'll be waiting for us.
Good, I say coldly. I have things to say to her.
Silas clears his throat. There's another problem. The entire building is warded against hostile magic. Once we're inside, our powers will be dampened. Maybe cut in half.
So we'll be weaker, Luna says. Great. That's just great.
Not necessarily. Silas looks at me. Celeste's memory magic is different. It's not offensive magic it works on the mind, not the physical world. The wards might not affect it as much.
Might? I repeat.
I've never seen anyone with your level of ability. You're... unprecedented. Silas almost smiles. The Council made you too powerful when they messed with your mind. The spell they used awakened something in you that shouldn't exist.
A chill runs down my spine. What do you mean?
Memory magic at your level can rewrite reality itself. Not just make people forgetyou can make them believe anything. Experience anything. You could trap Aurora in a memory so real she wouldn't know it was fake.
The implications hit me. I could control her.
You could destroy her, Damian corrects quietly. Break her mind completely. Leave her an empty shell.
Part of me the angry, hurt part wants that. Wants Aurora to feel the pain she caused me.
But another part remembers what she said: You reminded me of someone I lost.
Even monsters have reasons.
What's the plan? I ask, pushing the thoughts away.
Damian traces a route on the map. Silas and I go in through the underground entrance here. We'll fight our way to Level Five, grab the evidence files, then head to Level Seven.
What about me? Luna asks.
You stay outside. Monitor communications. If things go wrong, you run. Get somewhere safe and release everything we have to the press.
Luna's face sets stubbornly. I'm not abandoning you guys.
You're our insurance policy, Damian says gently. If we fail, you're the one who makes sure the truth gets out anyway.
She doesn't look happy but nods.
And me? I ask.
Damian hesitates. You're the distraction.
Excuse me?
Aurora wants you. Specifically you. So you walk in the front door, turn yourself in, and keep her attention while we work. His voice is tight, hating the plan even as he says it. You'll have a tracker. The second we have the files, I come for you.
That's insane, Luna protests. You're using her as bait!
It's the only way, Silas says. The Council expects Celeste to run. They'll have every exit watched. But if she surrenders? They'll focus on her. Drop their guard.
I look at Damian. You expect me to just hand myself over to the woman who tortured me?
I expect you to trust me. His eyes are intense. I will not leave you there. I will burn that building to the ground before I let them touch you again.
The room goes silent.
I should say no. This is suicide. But those children Aurora hurt they deserve justice. And I deserve my life back.
Okay, I say. I'll do it.
Hours pass in preparation. Silas teaches me combat basics. Luna programs the tracker. Damian finalizes the plan.
Night falls.
I'm checking weapons when Damian appears beside me. Can we talk? Alone?
We step outside onto a balcony overlooking the city. The night is cold, stars hidden by city lights.
I'm scared, I admit. What if this doesn't work? What if Aurora wins?
She won't.
You can't promise that.
I can promise I'll die before I let her have you. He turns to me, and the intensity in his eyes steals my breath. Three years ago, I made a mistake. I let them take you without fighting hard enough. I won't make that mistake again.
Damian
I know you don't remember loving me. I know I'm basically a stranger to you. His voice cracks. But I need you to know if tonight goes wrong, if something happens to me I never stopped loving you. Not for one second in three years.
Tears burn my eyes. Don't talk like you're going to die.
I'm not planning to. But just in case He cups my face gently, thumbs brushing away tears. You made me believe in magic, Celeste. Real magic. The kind that makes life worth living. And even if you never remember that, it was real. We were real.
I should pull away. I barely know this man.
But my body knows him. My heart knows him.
So when he leans in slowly, giving me every chance to stop him, I don't.
His lips meet mine, and the world explodes.
It's not just a kiss. It's a memory breaking through sudden, overwhelming, perfect. I remember this. I remember him. I remember loving him so much it hurt.
The memory lasts only a second before it fades, but it's enough.
I pull back, gasping. I felt it. I remembered
My phone buzzes. Silas's name flashes on the screen.
Damian answers. What?
We've got a problem. Silas's voice is tight. I just intercepted Council communications. Aurora moved up her timeline. She's not waiting for tomorrow. She's executing the kill order tonight. And she's coming here. Now. We've got maybe ten minutes before they breach the building.
Damian's face goes hard. Everyone gear up. We leave in five.
He hangs up and looks at me. Change of plans. We're going in hot and unprepared.
Then let's make it count. I grab a weapon from the rack, magic crackling around my fingers.
Below us, engines roar. Black SUVs screech into the parking lot.
The Council has found us.
And they're not here to talk.