Chapter 48 Chapter 47
The scream tore through the bond like a blade, sharp enough that it stole my breath before my mind could catch up.
I was already moving before Kael or Azrael spoke, my body reacting on instinct, shadow magic flaring around my hands as panic threatened to drown out everything else. Luna’s fear was raw and unmistakable, a jagged spike of terror that did not belong to memory or illusion. It was happening now. Somewhere close. Somewhere I should have been able to reach.
“Where?” Kael demanded, his voice tight as steel as he grabbed my arm to steady me when my knees buckled.
“I do not know,” I said, forcing air into my lungs. “But she is still on this side of the Veil. I can feel her.”
Azrael’s eyes were already glowing faintly, demon magic responding to the surge of shadow energy rippling outward from me. “That scream was intentional. They want us panicked. Scattered.”
“And they succeeded,” I snapped, guilt and fear tangling in my chest. “She is bait, and I walked straight into it.”
Kael stepped directly in front of me, his hands firm on my shoulders, forcing me to meet his gaze. “Listen to me. You did not fail her. They anticipated your response and escalated. That is not the same thing.”
It did not feel different. It felt like I had handed my sister to monsters who were now punishing me for daring to defy them.
Azrael was already issuing commands through his comm stone, his voice clipped and controlled. “Lock down the border territories. All mixed patrols converge inward. No one moves alone. I want eyes everywhere.”
“They will not keep her in a place that obvious,” I said, pressing my palm to my sternum as I tried to follow the faint thread of Luna’s presence. “They know I will look for her through shadow pathways. They are hiding her in something loud.”
“Loud how?” Kael asked.
“Emotionally,” I replied. “Fear. Pain. Places where shadow magic is chaotic instead of quiet. Morgath taught them that trick.”
Azrael’s jaw tightened. “Then we narrow the search. Places with unstable magical resonance. Old sanctuaries. Abandoned crossings. Anywhere the Veil was damaged recently.”
I closed my eyes, pushing past the panic long enough to focus. Luna’s fear pulsed again, weaker this time, like a heartbeat struggling to stay steady.
“There,” I said hoarsely, turning east. “She is moving. Being moved.”
Kael did not hesitate. He swept me up in his arms without a word, vampiric speed carrying us out of the sanctuary in a blur of motion as Azrael followed in a streak of flame and shadow. The world bent around us, reality struggling to keep pace as we crossed territory far faster than any human should have survived.
We stopped at the edge of an old border ruin, half swallowed by twisted trees and shadowed stone. The air here felt wrong. Heavy. Thick with layered magic that clung to my skin like wet ash.
“She is inside,” I whispered. “Below us.”
Azrael surveyed the structure, eyes scanning for threats. “They want you underground. Limited exits. Easy to collapse.”
“Which means they expect us to charge in blindly,” Kael said. “So we do not.”
I slid out of his arms, legs shaky but functional, and pressed my palm to the cold stone wall. Shadow magic responded instantly, whispering fragments of what lay beneath. Corridors. Cells. Wards layered in crude but effective patterns.
“They built this fast,” I murmured. “Not ancient. Improvised.”
“Desperation,” Azrael said. “Or confidence.”
“Or both,” Kael added.
We moved carefully, disabling wards one by one. Every step deeper into the ruin made Luna’s presence clearer, her fear tightening around my heart like a vice. I kept whispering her name under my breath, not knowing if she could hear me, but needing her to know I was coming.
The cell was at the lowest level, sealed behind a door etched with shadow runes that burned when I touched them.
“They keyed it to you,” Kael said quietly. “Your magic.”
“Of course they did,” I replied. “They want me to open it.”
“And if it is trapped?” Azrael asked.
“Then it is already too late to turn back,” I said, voice trembling despite my resolve.
I placed both hands on the door and pushed gently, not with force, but with intention. The runes flared, then dimmed, recognizing my magic and yielding with a soft, ominous click.
The door swung open.
Luna was inside, bound to a chair with restraints glowing faintly with anti-magic sigils. Her face was pale, streaked with tears, but when she saw me, relief flooded her expression so fiercely it nearly broke me.
“Sera,” she sobbed. “I knew you would come.”
“I am here,” I said, rushing to her side, my hands shaking as I tore through the bindings. “I have you. You are safe.”
The restraints fell away, and she collapsed into my arms, clinging to me like she had when we were children hiding from storms. I held her tightly, breathing her in, grounding myself in the simple reality of her warmth and life.
Kael and Azrael stood guard at the entrance, tension coiled tight in their stances.
“I am sorry,” Luna whispered. “They kept asking about you. About the alliance. They wanted me to tell them what you were afraid of.”
My throat tightened. “Did you?”
“No,” she said fiercely, pulling back to look at me. “I told them you are not afraid. You are stubborn.”
Despite everything, a shaky laugh escaped me. “That sounds like you.”
The air shifted abruptly, pressure slamming into my senses like a warning bell.
“They are here,” Azrael said. “Multiple signatures.”
Figures emerged from the shadows lining the chamber walls, the same cloaked silhouettes from the sanctuary, joined now by others. Too many. And behind them, stepping forward with infuriating calm, was Morgath herself.
“Well done,” she said, her gaze flicking from Luna to me with cold amusement. “You came exactly as predicted.”
Rage flared so violently in my chest I had to bite back a scream. “You promised not to hurt her.”
“And I did not,” Morgath replied. “I merely borrowed her. Think of it as a lesson.”
“A lesson in what?” Kael snarled.
“In leverage,” Morgath said. “And in consequence.”
She gestured casually, and the runes lining the walls ignited, flaring with power that made my skin prickle.
“This place is anchored to the Veil,” she continued. “Destroying it would be inconvenient. But destabilizing it? That sends a message.”
I felt it then. A deep, sickening lurch in the fabric of reality, like the ground beneath my feet was slipping.
“You are not going to get what you want,” I said, pulling Luna behind me as Kael moved to my side. “You are outnumbered.”
Morgath smiled. “Am I? Or have I simply arranged things so you cannot afford to fight?”
The walls began to crack, shadow magic seeping through the fissures as the Veil strained under the pressure.
“If this collapses,” Azrael said coldly, “you will be buried with us.”
“Perhaps,” Morgath agreed. “But you will lose something far more valuable first.”
She snapped her fingers.
The floor gave way beneath us, shadow and stone dropping into nothingness as Luna screamed again and the world fell apart beneath our feet, and the last thing I heard before darkness swallowed us whole was Morgath’s voice whispering triumphantly that this was only the beginning.