Afternoon sunlight could never penetrate to this part of the church — light clung to the shadows and dust, unwilling to brighten even the air. Cael strode through the shattered nave, his wings flickering spectrally behind him with each step. His sigils thrummed with warning. The atmosphere was off somehow.
Much too quiet.
Far too still.
Elara felt it too — she was standing now instead of resting, shaking a little with trembling fists as she attempted to cover up how terrified she was.
"Is it them?" she whispered.
"No," Cael said, though the tightness in his voice betrayed him. "It's her."
A knell like dragged bells through a cemetery resounded through the church — such a sweet sound yet so harsh. The stained glass above them trembled, cracks radiating through the scarlet and gold remnants.
Elara stepped closer to him."Who—"
"Seraphine" He raised a wing protectively over her. "Heaven's favorite executioner."
The shattered window imploded. Light streamed into the church — not sunlight. Something colder, something merciless.
She came down like a made-judgment: Flawless wings of white-gold steel. Armor that emanated the weight of a thousand hymns. A halo whirling a star that wants to die.
And those eyes— those eyes in a breath found Cael.and in those very eyes-
"Brother," she said, voice soft as silk, sharp as ruin. "You look different without your crown."
Cael advanced, fully positioning himself between Seraphine and Elara.
'Turn back,' he warned. 'This ground is 'This ground is forsaken. You have no dominion here.'
Her laugh was a knife cloaked in silk.
I rule where Heaven would need me you do. "I have dominion wherever Heaven demands." Her gaze flicked to Elara. "Is this the little ember they still protect? The girl you shattered eternity for?"
Elara stiffened, but Cael didn't let her speak.
"You are not taking her."
Seraphine tilted her head. "Oh, Cael—sweet, foolish Cael I'm not here to take her." She smiled, and the church trembled.
"I am here to undo what you began."
Light rippled as she reached toward the floor — and the crossing beneath the church roared, sigils scorching through the stone. The world itself seemed to flinch.
"Run," Cael breathed, wings surging outward as darkness wrapped around him.
Elara didn't move. Her voice shook like a breaking vow.
"Cael… she knows who I am."
He clenched his fists, power crackling down his arms.
"Then it's time you did too."
Before Seraphine's light cable drooped with glowing unconsciousness in a dozing petunia's head, Cael pulled Elara against him — and the shadows swallowed them whole.