Chapter 124: Mother - Kael
The woman walks into the castle, sunlight streaming in from behind her, stretching her shadow long across the floor.
Her wings are folded behind her back, silver-white feathers glistening with what might be dew—or blood, I can't tell. She's wearing the traveler's cloak from Side A, dark gray and worn at the edges, the same kind we found in that wilderness fortress.
But her eyes.
They're not Leah's soft silver-gray. They're pure metallic silver, like two polished mirrors. They reflect my image back at me, but there's no warmth in them at all.
"Christina?" I say.
The name carries three thousand years of weight when it leaves my lips. My mother, the head of House de Noct, one of the last purebloods. She was on Side A, in the castle, smiling at me in front of my father's portrait.
And the woman standing before me has the same face.
But she's not the same person.
"Kael." The woman smiles, the corner of her mouth lifting. "My youngest son. Three thousand years, and you haven't changed a bit. Still so... fragile."
Her gaze shifts to Leah. That look isn't a mother looking at her daughter. It's someone sizing up raw material.
"And you," she says. "My blood. My key. You've finally awakened."
Leah stands beside me, gun still in hand. Her fingers are shaking, but the barrel stays steady.
"You're not my mother," Leah says. "My mother couldn't fly. She didn't have wings. She died when I was five."
"Died?" The woman laughs, a sound like breaking ice. "No, sweetheart. She left. Left that useless father, left Dust Lane, left... you."
She takes a step forward. Her boots click against the floor.
"Twenty years ago, I found out I wasn't a Forsaken. I was a Throwback. My bloodline reawakened after five generations—silver-white wings, Primogenitor resonance. So I left. Went back to where I belonged. Side A. A branch family of... House de Noct."
She stops in the middle of the hall, about fifteen feet from us.
"But I didn't expect," she says, "that my daughter would carry the same bloodline. And purer than mine. Pure enough to be a Nexus. Pure enough... to open the Door."
I step in front of Leah.
"What do you want?"
"I want the Door opened." Christina—if she still deserves that name—says it plainly. "Fully opened. Not a Door-change, not Doorless. Tear down the barrier. Let Side A swallow Side B. Vampires rule humans. Magic crushes technology. Primogenitor blood becomes the only law."
"And the humans?" Leah asks.
"Slaves," Christina says. "Or food. Depends on how useful they are."
The hall goes quiet.
Leah's gun goes off.
The UV round hits Christina's shoulder. She doesn't even try to dodge. The bullet goes through the cloak, hits skin, but—
No burning.
No wound.
The bullet bounces off and hits the floor with a small, defeated sound.
"Silver Moon-level resistance," I say, my voice flat. "You've evolved to Primogenitor level."
"No," Christina corrects me. "I've always been at this level. Just hid it for twenty years. Now I don't need to hide anymore."
She spreads her wings.
The silver-white feathers unfold in the hall, blocking the sunlight coming through the windows. Every feather gives off blinding light, so bright I can't see her face.
"Two choices," she says. "First, Leah comes with me willingly, acts as the key to open the Door, and I let you live, Kael. Second—"
Her wings sweep forward.
A shockwave hits us. Not wind—pure force. Leah and I are thrown backward, slamming into the stone wall of the hall. The back of my head cracks against the stone, and everything goes dark around the edges.
"—Second, I kill Kael and take Leah anyway."
Leah gets up faster than I do. She raises her gun again, but this time it's not UV rounds. Regular bullets. She pulls the trigger, three shots aimed at Christina's face.
Christina tilts her head. The rounds graze her cheek, leaving white marks but no blood.
"Naughty," she says.
She appears right in front of Leah.
Too fast. Not Shadow Glide—something more basic, something from the Primogenitor bloodline itself. Teleportation. Her hand closes around Leah's throat and lifts her off the ground.
"You're my daughter," she says. "You carry my blood. Did you really think you could fight me?"
Leah struggles. Her wings spread, silver-white light bursting out, trying to push back against Christina's grip.
But Christina is stronger. Twenty years of hiding, twenty years of building power—she runs far deeper than Leah's newly awakened abilities.
Leah's light fades. Silver turns to gray, gray turns to dark—
"Let her go!"
I charge forward.
No Coercion, no speed, just my body. I slam into Christina's side, shoulder driving into her ribs.
She lets go.
Leah drops to the floor, coughing, hands at her throat.
Christina looks down at me. There's no anger in her eyes, just... disappointment.
"Three thousand years, Kael." She says. "And you still only know how to use your fists. Where's your Princely Coercion? Where's your Shadow Glide? Where's the power your father left you?"
"Gone." I get to my feet, putting myself between her and Leah. "But my fists are still here."
She smiles.
"Then you can die."
Her wings vibrate again. This time not a shockwave, but something sharper, like blades—light blades.
I close my eyes.
But the light blades never reach me.
A black shadow slams into Christina from the side. Fast as a bullet. She stumbles, the light blades go wild, slicing through a pillar in the hall.
The pillar collapses. Debris rains down.
I open my eyes.
It's a Night Walker. An evolved one. Golden vertical pupils, upright spine. It jumped through the window, claws dug into Christina's wings, teeth sunk into her shoulder.
Christina screams.
Not pain—pure rage. Her body explodes with silver light, and the Night Walker is thrown across the hall, hitting the opposite wall with the unmistakable sound of breaking bones.
But more Night Walkers come pouring through the windows.
Ten. Twenty. They're not here to help us. They're here to... protect their queen?
No. They're looking at Leah.
Leah is still on the floor, bruises darkening her throat. She lifts her head, silver-gray eyes meeting the Night Walkers' stares.
The Night Walkers lower their heads.
They recognize her as their ruler.
"Kill them!" Christina orders. "I am your source! My blood created you!"
The Night Walkers don't move.
Leah gets up slowly. Her fingers touch her throat, then she looks at Christina.
"You're wrong," Leah says, her voice rough. "You're not the source. You're just... a thief. Stole the Primogenitor bloodline, hid it, thought it was yours."
She raises her gun.
Not at Christina. At the crystal chandelier hanging from the dome above the hall.
The chandelier hangs right over Christina. Huge, heavy, made of hundreds of crystals—
She fires.
The UV round hits the chandelier's chain. The chain breaks.
The chandelier falls.
Christina looks up. Her wings spread, trying to move.
But the Night Walkers act. They rush forward, pinning her wings with their bodies, claws locked around her ankles. She can't spread them, can't teleport.
The chandelier comes down on her.
A crash like thunder.
Crystal shards fly everywhere. Dust fills the air.
The hall goes quiet.
The Night Walkers crawl out of the wreckage. Some have broken legs, some have snapped wings, but none of them run.
Leah walks toward the wreckage.
I follow her.
We dig through the crystal shards. Christina is pinned underneath. Her silver-white wings are broken, bone sticking through skin. There's a gash across her forehead, and her blood is silver, thick like mercury.
But she's still alive.
Her eyes are open, silver pupils showing no fear, just... a smile.
"You win," she says, her voice weak. "But you think this is over? I'm just... a messenger. The one who really wants to open the Door... it's not me."
"Who?" Leah asks.
Christina's lips move.
She says two words.
Then her head falls to the side. Eyes still open, but the breathing stops.
Two words.
"Xiao Qi."