The rain hadn't stopped for hours. It wept from the heavens like the world itself was mourning something long lost—something sacred.
Inside the rosewood cabin, drenched in candlelight and tension, Aiyana stood with her back to Elias. She didn't dare turn around. Her heart thundered in her chest, a feral beat of fear and desire. She could feel the heat of him—too close, too dangerous.
"You ran from me again," Elias murmured, voice deep like velvet shadows, "Why?"
Aiyana clenched her fists at her sides. Her fingers were still tingling—from the moment his hand had grazed hers when she'd fallen in the woods earlier. She'd felt something crackle in the air. Magic. Or something darker.
"I don't trust you," she said softly, her voice trembling even as she tried to harden it.
"You don't trust yourself," Elias replied, stepping closer. "Because when I touch you... something inside you awakens."
She turned sharply, eyes blazing. "You don't know anything about me."
Elias's lips twitched into a knowing smirk. "Then why does your pulse race every time I speak your name?"
Aiyana hated him in that moment—for being right, for making her feel so alive, for unlocking parts of her she thought had died when her mother vanished and the curse took hold of their bloodline.
But she hated herself even more—for wanting him.
"I saw your mark," he whispered.
Aiyana froze.
Her hand instinctively flew to her shoulder, where the swirling black crescent lay etched into her skin—an ancient sigil passed from cursed daughter to cursed daughter. No one was supposed to know. No one was supposed to see.
"You shouldn't have seen that," she rasped.
Elias stepped closer. "You were unconscious when I carried you from the storm. I wasn't trying to violate your secrets."
"You don't understand what that mark means," she said bitterly, trying to retreat—but he didn't let her. He stepped into her space like gravity itself had called him to her.
"I understand more than you think," Elias said. "That mark is not just a curse. It's a key."
Her brows furrowed. "A key?"
He raised a hand—slowly, as if she were a frightened bird. His fingers brushed her cheek. Electricity shivered down her spine, and the mark beneath her skin pulsed.
"The curse can be broken," he said.
Aiyana's breath caught in her throat.
"Don't play with me," she warned. "I've spent my life running from that hope."
"I don't deal in hope," Elias said. "I deal in truth. And the truth is—our fates are tied. You feel it too, don't you?"
Aiyana shook her head, lips trembling. "You're dangerous."
The kiss.
The shift in the spell.
And she was coming.