Celeste's POV
Ten seconds, Aurora repeats. Choose.
My mind is screaming. The video shows Damian tied up, unconscious, surrounded by enforcers. This can't be real. He said he was fine. He was just here an hour ago.
Unless Aurora's people grabbed him the second I left.
You're bluffing, I say, but my voice shakes.
Aurora's smile is ice-cold. Am I? Would you like to test that theory? Let me send the order right now. She raises her phone. One word from me and they slit his throat.
Stop! The word rips out of me. Just wait. Let me think.
Five seconds.
My magic surges, ready to attack, but Aurora doesn't even flinch. She's too powerful. Even if I could beat her, Damian would die before I got close.
Three seconds.
I can't let him die. Not when he's spent three years protecting me. Not when he loves me so much it's destroying him.
But if I surrender, I lose everything again. My memories. My freedom. Myself.
One
Fine! I scream. Fine. I'll do it. Just don't hurt him.
Aurora lowers her phone, looking satisfied. Smart girl. I knew you'd see reason.
Show me proof he's alive first.
She taps the screen. In the video, an enforcer slaps Damian's face. He groans, head lifting slightly. Alive but hurt.
Relief and rage war inside me.
Now tell your enforcers to let him go, I demand.
Oh, darling, I don't think so. Aurora tucks the phone away. He goes free after the spell is complete. Not before. I'm not stupid enough to give up my leverage.
You said I had a choice!
You did. You chose his life. Now you live with the consequences. She gestures to the couch. Sit. We'll do the memory reinforcement here. It won't take long. You'll wake up tomorrow thinking tonight was just a bad dream.
My fists clench. And what happens to Damian after?
He'll be warned to stay away from you. If he doesn't... Aurora shrugs. Well, next time I won't be so merciful.
She's lying. I can feel it in my gut. The second she erases my memories, she's going to kill Damian anyway. Why leave a loose end?
I sit on the couch, buying time, my mind racing.
Aurora moves behind me, her hands beginning to glow with purple magic. This will hurt less if you don't fight it.
Wait. I twist around to look at her. Can I ask you something first?
She sighs, annoyed. What?
Why did you do it? Three years ago. Why erase my memories instead of just killing me?
For a second just a flash something like guilt crosses her face. I told you. I was saving your life.
No. There's more to it. I watch her carefully. You could have let the Council execute me. Why didn't you?
Aurora's jaw tightens. Because you reminded me of someone. Someone I lost a long time ago. Her voice goes cold again. But that was a mistake. Sentiment makes you weak. I won't make that error twice.
Her hands press against my temples.
Magic pours into my skull like acid. I scream.
But instead of letting it take me, I do something Aurora doesn't expect.
I fight back.
My own magic surges up to meet hers. Purple light explodes between us, so bright the windows rattle.
What are you Aurora gasps. That's impossible!
You taught me everything I know about memory magic, I snarl. Did you really think I wouldn't learn to defend myself?
I shove her spell backward, reversing the flow. Aurora stumbles, shocked.
In that moment of distraction, I grab the phone Damian gave me and hit the emergency button.
Then I run.
I burst out of my apartment and sprint down the stairs. Behind me, Aurora screams in rage. Magic blasts hit the walls, blowing holes in the plaster.
You can't run from the Council! She shouts. We'll find you! We'll find everyone you love!
I hit the street and keep running. My lungs burn. My magic is depleted from fighting Aurora's spell. But I can't stop.
A black SUV screeches around the corner. Silas is driving, Luna in the passenger seat.
Get in! Silas yells.
I dive into the backseat. Silas floors it before I even close the door.
What happened? Luna grabs my shoulders. You're bleeding!
I touch my nose. Blood. Magic overuse.
Aurora tried to erase my memories. She I gasp for air. She showed me a video. Damian captured. She said she'd kill him if I didn't surrender.
Silas's hands tighten on the wheel. That's impossible. Damian's at the safe house. I just talked to him five minutes ago.
My heart stops. What?
He's fine. He's been monitoring everything remotely. Silas glances at me in the rear view mirror. Aurora was bluffing. That video was probably old footage or faked entirely.
Relief hits me so hard I almost sob. He's okay?
More than okay. He's furious someone tried to mess with you. Silas's phone buzzes. He answers on speaker. Talk to me.
Damian's voice fills the car, tight with worry. Did you get her?
Got her. She's safe.
Celeste? Damian sounds wrecked. Are you hurt?
I'm fine. My voice breaks anyway. Aurora tried to erase me again. She said she had you. I almost
I know. I saw it through the security camera in your apartment. His voice turns deadly. She's never touching you again. I promise.
What do we do now? I ask. She knows I fought back. She knows I won't surrender. The whole Council will be hunting us.
Silence on the other end. Then: We go to war.
Damian
They took three years from us, Celeste. They tortured children and covered it up. They've been controlling and manipulating the entire supernatural world for decades. His voice is steel now. It's time someone stopped them. And we have exactly what we need to do it.
The evidence, I breathe.
The evidence. We're releasing everything tomorrow night. Every file. Every video. Every piece of proof that shows what the Council really is. He pauses. But there's one problem.
My stomach drops. What?
To transmit it worldwide, past the Council's magical blocks, we need to broadcast from their headquarters. From inside the Council building itself.
That's suicide, Silas says flatly.
That's the only way. Damian's voice is grim. Celeste, I need you to make a choice. We can run I have resources, we can disappear, hide forever. Or we can fight. Storm the Council, expose them, and probably die trying.
I think about those children in the experiments. About the video of past-me screaming as they ripped away my memories. About three years of stolen life.
We fight, I say. We burn them down.
Then we need to move fast. Damian's voice changes, becomes commanding. Silas, bring her to the safe house. We plan tonight, we strike tomorrow. Luna, I need you to contact everyone who's ever had a problem with the Council. Everyone who wants them gone. We're building an army.
Luna's eyes go wide but she nods. On it.
The call ends. We drive in tense silence.
When we reach the safe house, Damian is waiting outside. The second I get out of the SUV, he's there, pulling me against his chest.
You're okay, he whispers into my hair. Thank God you're okay.
I let myself hold him for just a moment. Let myself feel safe.
Then I pull back. Let's end this. Let's make them pay for what they did to us.
Damian's eyes burn with determination. Tomorrow night, the whole world learns the truth.
But neither of us knows that Aurora is already moving.
In her office at Council headquarters, she makes a call.
It's me, she says coldly. Activate Protocol Seven. Kill everyone associated with Damian Cross and Celeste Thorne. No survivors. No mercy.
She hangs up and smiles.
Let them try to fight. By tomorrow night, they'll all be dead.