로그인GILDEONHe woke in a place that felt too familiar.Stone walls boxed him in, close and suffocating. The only light came from a narrow, barred window high above. He tested his body—steady, recovered, as if he’d slept for days. But his power… it was muted. Restricted.The moment his eyes landed on the steel door, recognition hit.He snapped upright.The seer sigil carved into it pulsed faintly—designed to keep him contained, to stop him from shifting into his dragon form.His pulse picked up.This was the cell General Markaus had thrown him into before—back when he’d lost control of his dragon beast.Which meant he was on one of their important bases.His thoughts shifted instantly to Araheen. Where was she? What about Kohina, Eitan, Yadira?The last thing he remembered was the old outpost—the dizziness, the collapse.Had Markaus found them?He rose from the stone bed and crossed the r
ARAHEENThat afternoon, she returned to Lothair’s estate under the pretense of visiting her mother’s tomb again. Zephyr suspected nothing, though Hedda had given her a sharp, sour look and said nothing.Lady Vaelina was absent from the castle, but Isalee was there. A servant directed Araheen to the garden.Isalee was pacing in front of the twin-dove fountain, her face tight, her mouth drawn thin, her hands restless at her sides. Araheen was certain her stepsister wasn’t sleeping with any Fractured, yet her emotions had grown bolder of late—not just hers, but the sylphs’ during the battle earlier… Feviel’s, and even the servants’, here in the citadel.Perhaps the Shining Keeper’s absence was loosening the shackles on their spirits little by little as time passed. It was a thought worth keeping.For now, what mattered was speaking to Isalee.Her stepsister was so lost in w
ARAHEENShe woke alone in bed, though she dimly remembered Zephyr pressing a kiss to her forehead before slipping into a robe and leaving the room.The first thing she checked when she sat up was her belly. The power of the Containment Sigil pulsed faintly beneath her skin, proof that it had done what it was meant to do. It had activated the moment Zephyr was inside her last night. For a second, she had feared he might notice, but he had been too lost in pleasure, too deep in that mindless rush, for his guard to stay fully up.Now that the deed was done, all she had to do was wait. And that depended entirely on her allies outside the citadel.Her mother had said the sigil’s full function would only unravel if Zephyr was engaged in battle. Only then would they have any real chance of bringing him down.She climbed out of bed, pulled on her dress, and opened the door, only to start at the sight of Hedda standing outside.
ARAHEENThe dining hall was quiet, save for the soft clink of her utensils and the occasional scrape of steel against porcelain. She sat alone at the table, eating her dinner, while Zephyr stood on the balcony, watching the citadel below.She hadn’t realized how famished she was until the servants laid a spread of food before her. After her long rest, and the power drained by her visit to her mother’s mausoleum, she needed to restore enough strength to sustain the Containment Sigil she had etched into her belly, concealed beneath a powerful masking sigil.Not even Zephyr would detect it… unless he knew exactly what to look for.“You’re not going to eat?” she asked casually, lifting her wine glass for a generous sip.“I have no longer use for food,” Zephyr replied without turning. “You’ll understand when you reach my state.”“What if I don’t want t
ARAHEENCatheria and Zephyr moved through the same narrow tunnel. Shadowy arms reached from the walls, grasping for them, but they avoided the touch—just as Araheen had during her own passage through the Dark Plane.They emerged into a white room, which dissolved in an instant into a vast cosmic expanse surrounding them.Golden streaks threaded through the fabric of the universe, interwoven with drifting stars, gas, and dust suspended in the void.Catheria approached a silvery structure resembling a vast spider’s web. She pressed her hand to its center, only to recoil moments later, tears streaming down her face.She then stumbled back, finding Zephyr still standing before his own web, his hand pressed firmly at its core. His eyes had turned white. His body was completely still.Catheria approached him slowly and, without a word, placed her hand over his.Her head snapped back. Her eyes turned white as wel
ARAHEENThe memory shifted again, this time to the dining hall.Oracle Guards stood by the doors, overseeing the Broken Ones—as sylphs like Catheria and Zephyr were called.Even here, strict rules were enforced, though they were permitted to speak with one another.After whatever rigorous “rehabilitation” the Oracles subjected them to—something her mother had clearly spared her from witnessing—Araheen could see how drained the others were. Most were too exhausted to even attempt conversation during meals.But her young mother did not seem as broken.Catheria obeyed without protest, and perhaps because of that, the Oracles had grown more lenient with her movements. No one questioned it when she took a seat beside Zephyr, who sat alone at his table.Zephyr paused mid-bite, turning to her with a look of open irritation.“What do you want?” he asked dismissively.&ld
ARAHThe way the hunter said those last words sent a cold ripple down her spine.This wasn’t like the others—those who fought her to claim her power, or simply saw her as an enemy to eliminate.The hunter wanted her judged. Condemned. Erased. And somehow, that felt worse. Like she was already doome
GILDEONHe tried calling Arah several times, but she wasn’t answering.“Damn it, Arah,” he muttered, throwing the phone onto the dashboard and slamming his foot on the gas, pushing the car harder down the road.“How the fuck is there a
ARAHShe held her breath as Gildeon’s face darkened, his hard expression sending her pulse into a sprint.Then came his voice laced with heat. “No.”Her brows pulled together. “What do you mean, no?”Feviel stepped in. “It’s her choice to come with me. You can’t stop that.”“Try me,” Gildeon growle
GILDEONHis jaw clenched. “Where is she?”The hunter turned slightly, angling his head toward the room behind him. “Inside the Hall of Reckoning,” he said, “where she awaits my judgment.”“You don’t want to do that,” the sylph chimed in, stepping forward.







