A POWER UNLEASHED

The sky churned with gold and darkness, an unnatural storm swirling above us, pulsing with raw energy.

Darius stood at the edge of the valley, composed, expectant.

Waiting.

My pulse thundered.

Because I knew.

This storm—this unnatural, terrifying force.

It wasn’t just his doing.

It was mine.

Cassian’s grip on my wrist tightened, his entire body rigid with tension.

“Sienna,” he warned, his voice dangerously low.

But I couldn’t tear my gaze from Darius.

From the way he was watching me.

Not like an enemy.

Not like prey.

But like he was watching something inevitable unfold.

Like he had already won.

The realization made my stomach churn.

Because maybe—just maybe—he was right.

The energy in the air pressed against my skin, a tangible, living thing, pulsing in time with my heartbeat.

I could feel it beneath my skin, in my blood, in the very core of my being.

The same power that had lashed out before.

The same power that had called to Darius.

I clenched my fists, willing it away, but it only surged harder, resisting.

Fighting to be free.

Darius tilted his head, his golden eyes gleaming.

“You feel it, don’t you?”

I swallowed hard.

Cassian’s growl vibrated through the air, his claws already extended, his stance shifting into something lethal.

“Get the hell away from her.”

Darius didn’t even blink.

He kept his focus on me.

“It’s calling to you,” he murmured, his voice smooth, coaxing. “The fire in your blood. The thing they tried to bury.”

I shook my head, taking a step back.

“No.”

Darius smiled.

"Yes."

A sharp pain lanced through my skull, and I gasped, clutching my head.

Images flooded my mind.

Visions—flashes of power, of destruction, of things I had never seen before but somehow knew.

A temple carved into the mountains, its walls pulsing with the same golden energy that burned inside me.

A woman standing at its center, her eyes glowing just like mine, her voice whispering words I couldn’t understand.

Fire.

An explosion of power ripping the world apart.

I staggered, the breath ripped from my lungs.

Cassian caught me before I could fall, his voice rough with concern and fury.

“Sienna, what is it?”

I couldn’t answer.

Because I had seen something else.

A figure standing at the heart of the destruction.

Not the woman.

Not the Council.

Me.

The storm grew stronger, the golden lightning cracking across the sky, the wind whipping around us.

Cassian’s arms tightened around me, trying to ground me.

But I was already coming undone.

I could feel the power pressing against my ribs, clawing its way to the surface.

Trying to take control.

I let out a shaky breath, trying to fight it back.

Darius watched me with something close to admiration.

"You don’t have to fight it," he said softly. "It’s already yours."

Cassian snapped.

He lunged.

Faster than thought, faster than I had ever seen.

But Darius vanished, reappearing on the other side of the clearing like a phantom slipping through the dark.

Cassian turned instantly, his red eyes burning, his body thrumming with pure rage.

Darius let out a slow, almost amused breath.

"I see why you like him," he mused. "So much fire. So much devotion."

His golden gaze flicked back to me.

"But even he can’t stop what’s coming."

I shook my head, fighting to breathe, fighting to stay myself.

“Shut up.”

Darius smiled.

“You already know the truth, Sienna.”

I clenched my teeth, but I felt it—the truth pressing against my mind, against my very soul.

He was right.

Something inside me was changing.

And there was nothing I could do to stop it.

Cassian took a step toward me, his rage shifting into something else.

Something desperate.

“Sienna,” he said, his voice softer now. “Stay with me.”

I blinked, my vision swimming.

He could feel it.

Through the bond.

The moment I realized that, I knew I was in trouble.

Because the bond.

It was cracking.

Cassian felt it too.

His grip on me tightened, his breath coming sharply, his body coiling like he was about to fight the universe itself.

“No,” he growled. “You are not leaving me.”

The pain inside me grew worse, an unbearable heat spreading through my limbs.

Darius watched in satisfaction, like he had been waiting for this.

“You can’t fight fate,” he said simply.

Cassian lunged for him again, but this time, I felt it.

The power inside me erupting like a wildfire, raw and untamed.

The moment Cassian reached for me.

The shockwave hit.

A burst of pure golden energy exploded from my body, blasting outward like a supernova.

Cassian was thrown back, crashing into the ground.

Darius?

He didn’t move.

The energy wrapped around him like he had been expecting it.

Like he had been waiting for me to let go.

My knees hit the dirt, my chest heaving, my body shaking violently.

Cassian groaned, pushing himself up, his red eyes wide with shock.

Darius let out a low, pleased chuckle.

“There she is.”

I gasped, trying to stay upright, trying to breathe through the fire still burning inside me.

Cassian’s rage turned deadly.

He wasn’t afraid anymore.

He was furious.

“Let. Her. Go.”

Darius smiled.

"I never took her, Cassian."

His gaze drifted back to me, his golden eyes glowing brighter than ever.

"I just gave her a little push."

And deep down, I knew.

He hadn’t forced me into this power.

He had simply waited for me to break.

I wasn’t sure if I could ever put myself back together again.