Thunder cracked across the midnight sky as Elena stepped out of the shadows of the war room and into the cold, bitter air. The storm hadn't come by chance it was the echo of ancient magic, responding to her awakening.
Everything in her blood screamed change.
And change was coming.
Alexander stood by the armored SUV waiting at the estate gates, watching the road like a hunter.
"Ready?" he asked, though he knew the answer.
Elena nodded, her trench coat whipping in the wind. "If I wait any longer, I might set fire to this city just to find him."
They were headed to Desmond's hidden compound on the edge of Kairon Valley a facility cloaked in supernatural veils and guarded by traitors who once swore loyalty to the Stonecrest bloodline.
But Elena wasn't walking in as a fragile woman anymore.
She was walking in as the Seer.
The compound rose from the valley floor like a dark fortress. Steel gates laced with warding sigils. Towers pulsing with surveillance. Men armed with enchanted rifles and glyph grenades.
But the real danger wasn't outside it was buried deep within the labyrinth of tunnels beneath it.
That was where Desmond kept his secrets.
And his monsters.
Inside the compound, Desmond sat at a long obsidian table surrounded by the last loyal members of the Shadow Council. All of them masked. All of them silent.
One figure finally leaned forward. Her voice was a low purr. "They're coming. You knew they would."
Desmond smirked. "Of course. I've been feeding them breadcrumbs since day one."
Another hissed. "Then why not crush them now?"
"Because Elena isn't just a Seer. She's my granddaughter. Her power is unstable. And the best way to crack a diamond," Desmond said, swirling his wine, "is to put it under pressure."
Outside, Elena and Alexander crouched on the edge of the perimeter wall.
"We split," Alexander whispered. "I'll go left, create a diversion."
"You'll get yourself killed," Elena snapped.
"I've done worse."
She touched his chest, palm flat against the heat of his heartbeat. "We go together. No more solo acts."
His gaze softened, just a fraction. "You're changing."
"No. I'm remembering who I am."
They breached the wall in silence, slipping past patrols with runes drawn in blood and smoke. The deeper they went, the more twisted the compound became hallways lined with half-dead spell anchors, bodies bound to walls like conduits, whispering warnings in broken tongues.
Elena paused at one chamber, staring into a cell glowing faintly gold.
Inside stood a woman.
Pale skin. Silver eyes.
And a grin too wide for her face.
"Elena Vales," the woman sang. "Or should I say… Aelira."
The name echoed like thunder inside Elena's skull.
She staggered back.
"How do you know that name?"
The woman stepped forward, touching the glass. "Because I was your mother's Seer-bond. Before she betrayed us all."
Alexander raised a blade. "Who is she?"
Elena whispered, "A soul fragment. A memory bound in flesh."
The woman cackled. "Your grandfather isn't the worst monster here, child. You are."
They left the cell. Quickly. But the name Aelira refused to leave Elena's mind.
Her birth name.
The one erased after the massacre.
Had her mother truly betrayed the Seers… or tried to protect her from becoming like them?
The compound trembled slightly as they descended the final staircase. Magic, raw and volatile, pulsed beneath their feet.
Alexander touched his earpiece. "Kira, status?"
"We're in. Monroe's team has the west wing under siege. They're buying you twenty minutes tops."
Elena exhaled. "That's all I need."
They reached the vault room.
Carved into bedrock. Bound by obsidian runes. Guarded by Desmond's personal creation a Wraith Beast, born from blood rituals and death.
It slithered into view. All shadow and teeth and hunger.
Elena didn't hesitate.
She stepped forward, her aura flaring.
The Seer within her roared.
She whispered an invocation, her voice laced with ancient vowels lost to time. The Wraith shrieked, convulsed, and then collapsed into a pool of shadow mist.
Alexander looked impressed—and a little concerned.
"You didn't even blink."
Elena was already at the vault. "I'll pay the price for this magic later. Right now, we take back what's ours."
They opened the vault.
And there it was: The Codex of Silence.
Bound in wolfskin. Etched in blood. The last remaining tome of Seer prophecy.
Elena stepped forward but as her fingers grazed the cover, pain exploded in her skull.
A vision surged....
—Fire. A burning city. Alexander lying in the ruins. Elias screaming her name. And Desmond, untouched, smiling beneath a broken moon.
"Elena!"
She snapped back, gasping. Blood dripped from her eyes.
"I saw it," she whispered. "He wins. If we don't stop him now… he wins."
Just then, alarms blared.
Gas flooded the room.
And from the smoke, Desmond appeared flanked by two armored mages.
"Well done," he said, clapping slowly. "You made it further than I expected."
Alexander lunged but Desmond flicked his wrist, and the air bent, slamming him into the wall.
"Let's not ruin the moment," Desmond said coolly. "I've been waiting to talk to you, Elena. Just you."
She raised her hands, power crackling. "Talk? You kidnapped my son."
"Our grandson," he corrected.
She froze.
"I didn't take him to hurt you. I took him because he's the key."
"To what?"
Desmond's eyes gleamed. "To unlocking the Seer Throne. The child born of wolf and sight he's the bridge between our bloodlines. With him, the vault can be fully opened."
Elena's voice was steel. "You want to use him."
"No. I want him to choose me."
Desmond stepped closer.
"You think this is about power? It's about restoration. The world is crumbling. But we… we could shape it again. Together."
Elena's hand trembled. Not with fear.
With rage.
"I will never rule beside you."
Desmond's smile didn't falter. "You don't have to. He will."
And with that, he vanished into shadow—leaving the vault to collapse behind him.
Back at the estate, Elena stood on the balcony, watching Elias sleep. The amulet still glowed faintly on his chest.
Alexander came up behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist.
"We've started a war," he said softly.
She nodded. "And we won't all survive it."
Alexander lowered his head to her shoulder. "Would it change anything if I told you I never stopped loving you?"
Elena turned to him, eyes searching.
"No," she whispered. "But it would make this night easier."
He kissed her not in desperation, but in reverence. As if grounding himself in the only truth that mattered.
And for that one night, beneath the storm of gods and kings, they let themselves be vulnerable again.
Because tomorrow, there would be no softness left.