***
The city burned.
And the man wearing my face stood at the center of it all, commanding fire, hellhounds, and fear with a single flick of his wrist.
Kray was cursing behind me, his shirt torn, breath ragged. Seraphine stood at my side, blades in both hands, her jaw tight with fury.
"This isn't just some echo or magical fragment," she said. "He's a split version of you. A fully-formed alternate self who chose darkness."
"And he brought an army," I muttered, tightening my grip on the blade she'd given me.
"You need to kill him, Desmond," she said. "Because if you don't, he won't just destroy the city—he'll consume the version of you that was meant to survive."
My chest clenched. The rune on my wrist throbbed like a war drum, pulsing in time with the beat of my rising rage.
A beast lunged from the smoke—a hellhound, its eyes glowing ember-red. I pivoted, slashed low, and the creature crumpled with a yelp. Blood sizzled on the broken tiles.
But then I heard it.
His voice.
My voice.
"Still weak, still human," the other me sneered, his crown tilting as he descended the steps of the abandoned courthouse across the street. "No wonder they kept you hidden. You were the failed one."
"I'm not a failure," I said through gritted teeth.
"You're still kissing protectors and running from your fate. I embraced mine."
With a wave of his hand, the sky split open. Shadows poured down—phantoms with hollow faces, slicing through alleyways and leaving frost in their wake.
Seraphine turned to me, eyes wild. "You have to awaken your second seal. Now."
"What the hell is that?"
"The first rune was just your birthmark. The second seal—that's your choice to rule."
"And how do I unlock it?"
She pulled me close, her breath hot against my lips. "Let go of the fear. Let go of who you were. Choose the heir you want to be."
Then, she kissed me—hard, rough, hungry.
The kind of kiss that burned away hesitation.
Our mouths collided in a clash of teeth and fire. Her hands tugged at my jacket, and I grabbed her waist, anchoring myself to the storm inside her. Her tongue slid against mine, her moan low and sinful. She pressed me against the wall, her thigh between mine, friction teasing my body into desperate tension.
The world shrank. All I could feel was her.
And the spark.
It detonated in my chest.
A flash of light burst from the rune on my wrist, scorching through my veins like wildfire. My bones felt like they were being reforged in flame. My vision blurred, then sharpened—every raindrop, every tremor in the ground, every breath Seraphine took. I could feel it all.
And then, I saw him—the other me—flinch.
He felt it too.
The power shift.
I stepped forward, the blade in my hand no longer just steel. It shimmered with black fire, etched with living runes. My heartbeat echoed like thunder.
"You want to see what failure looks like?" I growled.
I lunged at him.
***
The battle was brutal.
Steel against steel. Magic against blood. He fought with elegance, practiced moves refined in a different life. But I fought like a street kid—dirty, fast, unpredictable. I knocked his blade aside, elbowed him in the jaw, kicked his leg out.
But he recovered fast, slamming me against a wall with a blast of telekinetic force.
"I was you once," he hissed. "But then I saw the truth. We weren't meant to protect this world. We were born to rule it."
"I don't want to rule!" I shouted.
He laughed. "Then you'll always lose."
His next attack was devastating—a barrage of flame-tipped daggers, summoned from midair and launched like missiles. I deflected one, rolled past the next, and raised my blade in time to absorb the last.
Behind me, Seraphine and Kray were fighting off the hellhounds. I saw blood on Kray's face, and Seraphine's arm was torn.
I couldn't protect them and fight him.
Unless...
"Draw him into me," Seraphine shouted, staggering toward a rune circle she'd carved into the floor earlier. "Trust me!"
I didn't hesitate.
I spun and sprinted, baiting the other me. He followed, arrogant and sure of victory. But when he stepped into the circle, Seraphine whispered a word—and the trap snapped shut.
Blue light exploded from the runes, forming chains of light around him.
He screamed in rage. "You dare cage me?!"
"For now," Seraphine snapped. "But the real war is just beginning."
***
We escaped the city.
The trap wouldn't hold him forever, but we needed answers. We needed to know why my bloodline was splitting realities—and who had started this madness.
We rode a stolen sky-train through the ruins of the old districts, heading toward the outskirts. Toward someone Seraphine said could help.
We stopped at a mountain monastery—the Temple of the Forsaken Flame.
A place where forgotten heirs went to die or to awaken.
***
The High Flamekeeper was not what I expected.
He was young—maybe twenty—with silver tattoos across his chest and a gaze like eternity. His name was Kael, and his presence made Seraphine instantly guarded.
"You trust him?" I asked.
"I don't trust anyone," she replied. "But he owes me a life."
Kael studied me with unsettling calm. "You carry not one destiny—but two. One inside you... and one wearing your face."
"Why am I splitting?" I asked. "Why is this happening?"
He paced slowly. "Your soul has been fractured by suppressed power and corrupted blood. The crown you were meant to inherit was cursed before you were born. And now... all timelines are fighting for control."
"So what do I do?"
Kael looked at me sharply. "You have to kill yourself."
I froze.
"What?"
"Not your body. Your echo. The fractured you that has taken shape. As long as he exists, you will never be whole."
My stomach twisted.
"And if I fail?"
Kael's eyes turned cold. "Then he becomes the true heir. And you? Just another shadow cast by his reign."
***
That night, I stood alone outside the temple, watching the stars. My rune glowed like a second moon on my wrist.
Seraphine found me.
"You okay?" she asked softly.
"No. But I will be."
She stepped closer, her fingers brushing mine. "You kissed me before the power hit."
"You kissed me harder."
She smiled. "Are you saying thank you?"
I turned to face her. "No. I'm saying I want to do it again."
This time, it wasn't desperation—it was heat and promise. Our mouths met slow, deep, tasting everything unspoken between us. Her hands slid beneath my shirt, nails grazing the rune-etched skin on my stomach. I lifted her, carried her inside the temple chamber, and laid her on a bed of enchanted flame silk.
Clothes fell away.
Touch turned to worship.
We moved together in the glow of ancient runes, bodies tangled in sweat and magic. Her gasps were prayers, and my name on her lips was a spell I never wanted broken.
After, she rested against me, her fingers tracing lazy circles on my chest.
"You're changing," she whispered.
"I know," I replied. "But I don't know into what."
She looked up at me. "Just promise you won't become him."
I held her tighter.
"I promise."
***
But outside the temple, in the cold of night, a crack formed in the moonlight.
And from it stepped him.
My echo.
Smiling.
Watching.
Waiting.