22

Darkness clung to the ruins like a second skin.

Kael crouched behind the crumbling remains of an ancient pillar, his breath steady, his pulse anything but. The temple loomed before him, its towering archways swallowed by vines and shadows.

“Tell me again,” he muttered under his breath, “why this isn’t the worst idea I’ve ever had.”

Lucian’s voice crackled through the enchanted stone Kael carried. “Because you’ve had worse.”

Kael smirked. “Fair point.”

Selene’s voice was softer, but no less urgent. “Kael. If you get caught—”

“I won’t.”

Silence.

Then, Kael sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Look, we don’t have a choice. Alec went to war with the gods. You lost your power. The balance is breaking, and we’re fresh out of miracles.” His storm-gray eyes flickered toward the temple doors. “This artifact—it’s our last shot. So let me do what I do best.”

Selene exhaled. “Kael—”

But he was already moving.

The entrance loomed before him, lined with glowing runes that pulsed in warning.

A challenge.

Kael grinned. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

—

Inside, the air was thick with magic.

It hummed against his skin, electric and ancient, curling through the vast hall like a sleeping beast. The walls were lined with murals, faded with time but still pulsing with power. They depicted scenes of gods and mortals, of fate unraveled and rewritten.

At the center of it all, resting on a pedestal of obsidian, was the artifact.

Kael’s breath caught.

It was smaller than he’d expected. A silver coin, no larger than his palm, etched with symbols he didn’t recognize.

And yet—

He could feel it.

Power, raw and untamed, vibrating in the air around it.

Kael smirked. “Well, don’t you look important?”

The moment his fingers brushed the surface, the temple awoke.

A pulse of energy exploded outward, shaking the ground beneath him. The murals moved, figures turning, watching.

A voice—deep, endless—spoke.

“Thief.”

Kael cursed, snatching the artifact and rolling just as the pedestal cracked in half.

The walls shuddered, stone groaning as golden light erupted from the runes. The murals peeled away from the walls, stepping forward—no longer paintings, but guards.

And they were pissed.

Kael didn’t hesitate. He ran.

A blast of energy scorched past his shoulder, slamming into the wall beside him. He ducked, twisting through the crumbling temple as the statues came to life behind him.

Lucian’s voice crackled in his ear. “What’s happening?”

Kael dodged another blast, sprinting toward the exit. “I might have woken up some very angry ancient magic.”

Selene’s voice was sharp. “Kael, get out of there!”

“Working on it, sweetheart.”

He skidded around a corner, nearly colliding with a statue wielding a very large sword.

Kael grinned. “Love the craftsmanship, really. But I’m gonna have to pass.”

He vaulted over the statue, landing hard, sprinting the last stretch toward the exit.

The doors slammed shut before he could reach them.

Kael skidded to a stop, cursing. “Oh, come on.”

The temple shook, the air crackling with magic.

And then—

The voice returned.

“You seek to change fate.”

Kael clenched his jaw. “Yeah, well. Fate’s been kind of a dick.”

“The price must be paid.”

The air seized.

Kael’s lungs tightened, his vision darkening as unseen hands gripped him, pulling at something inside him.

Not his body.

Not his magic.

Something deeper.

Kael gasped, dropping to his knees. “Shit—”

Lucian’s voice was distant. “Kael? Kael!”

Selene’s voice broke through, urgent, desperate. “Fight it!”

Kael tried.

But the temple was inside him now, unraveling his existence, measuring his worth.

Then—

A whisper.

Not the temple.

Not the gods.

Something else.

“Do you love her?”

Kael’s breath hitched.

The artifact burned against his palm, waiting.

The temple demanded a price.

And Kael had only one thing left to give.

His soul.

“Do you love her?”

Selene.

Her name wasn’t spoken, but he felt it.

Kael clenched his jaw.

Then, despite the pain, despite the weight crushing him from the inside out—

He grinned.

“Yeah,” he rasped. “Yeah, I do.”

The temple stilled.

The magic released him.

Kael collapsed, gasping for breath. The artifact pulsed in his palm, the runes fading.

Lucian’s voice snapped through the link. “Kael! What happened?”

Kael exhaled, laughing breathlessly. “Nothing. Just had to make a choice.”

Selene’s voice was soft. “What choice?”

Kael smirked.

“I’ll tell you later.”

Then he stumbled to his feet—

And ran.