He was real.
Alina's knees locked in place as the figure stepped into full view—moonlight hitting his face, and with it, the weight of memory.
Her brother.
Damien Flameborn.
The same eyes. The same jaw. The same scar across his left brow—the one she gave him the day she took her oath.
"You're dead," she whispered.
Damien's expression didn't change. "You left me to die. There's a difference."
Selene's eyes darted between them. "You said your family was gone."
"I thought they were," Alina said, stunned.
Damien's voice cut through the air. "You abandoned us. Then you ran with her." He pointed at Selene. "A witch."
Selene raised her hand, magic flaring in her palm. "Touch her, and you'll bleed."
Damien sneered. "Still protecting the enemy. You're worse than the traitors we burn."
The witchspawn behind him waited, still as statues—waiting for a command.
Alina stepped forward, forcing her voice not to tremble. "Why are you here?"
"Order command. You've been marked for death, Alina. Your soul is cursed. You're no longer one of us."
Alina's fingers curled around the hilt of her blade.
"I never wanted to be one of you."
Damien's smile was bitter. "Then I'll grant your wish."
He raised the Flamebound sword—and the creatures charged.
Selene threw out her hand. A wall of white fire roared up, separating them from the oncoming wave. "Run," she shouted.
Alina didn't argue. She grabbed the prophecy scroll and bolted with Selene into the deeper ruins.
Behind them, the ground shook.
Arrows hissed past her ear, striking stone. Alina turned a corner, then another—until the passage opened into an underground chamber neither of them had ever seen.
It was circular, glowing faintly with blue glyphs.
"What is this place?" Alina breathed.
Selene's voice was low. "A sanctum. Hidden. Protected."
"But not forever," Alina said, glancing toward the echoes behind them. "He'll find us."
Selene stepped into the glyph circle. "Not if we bind it shut."
Alina followed. "Using what?"
Selene held up her wrist—and sliced it with a thin silver blade. Blood dripped onto the glyphs.
Alina stared. "What are you doing?"
Selene looked at her, eyes fierce. "I'm invoking the Second Rite. Blood pact. Sanctuary sealed by sacrifice."
Alina stepped back. "You'll die."
"No," Selene said. "Only if you refuse me."
The glyphs began to spin.
Alina hesitated. Her heart thundered. Above them, the screams were drawing closer.
"Choose," Selene whispered.
Alina drew her own blade.
And pressed it to her palm.
Their blood met.
The sanctum exploded with light.