Casimir
The messengers arrived at dusk. The fog had just begun to settle, clinging to the cobbled streets and blurring the edges of Havenscove. Their cloaks were soaked with salt and rain, and their eyes carried the look of men who had ridden too far on too little hope.
I knew before they spoke.
"The King," one of them said, voice low. "He is failing. He calls your name, my prince. He says the light and the shadow have met again. It ends where it began."
I looked past them, toward the horizon where the Veil pulsed faintly, silver bleeding through the sky like a wound that would not close. The scent of magic hung thick, familiar and wrong. The bond between worlds was tightening.
Nicholas stepped forward before I could speak. "How long does he have?"
"Hours. Maybe less. The healers can do nothing. The darkness spreads faster each time he breathes."
I turned away. The air felt heavy in my chest, each breath scraping against the weight of duty. My father had ruled for centuries. He had built kingdoms, buried wars, and made peace with monsters. But time comes for even the gods we make of men.
Nicholas's voice cut through the quiet. "We have to go back, Cas."
I shook my head. "If I cross the Veil now, it will shatter completely. The rift is already unstable."
"And if you stay, the kingdom dies with him." Nicholas's tone hardened. "You cannot serve two worlds forever. So choose. Which one do you bury?"
The words struck deeper than any blade. "You think I have not already chosen?"
He stepped closer. "Then why are you still here?"
The wolf inside me stirred, restless, pressing against my control. The air trembled, and for a moment, the mist darkened around us, curling like smoke. I clenched my fists. "Because if I leave her, the Veil will open. And everything you are trying to save will be lost anyway."
Nicholas's expression softened, but his voice stayed sharp. "You speak like a man already bound. You forget what it means to lead."
"I remember too well." I met his gaze, my voice rough. "I remember the weight of every life that dies when I fail. I will not add hers to that list."
His jaw tightened. "Then the world will bleed for her."
The words echoed through the fog long after he was gone.
---
That night, the air shifted again. The scent of rain turned sweet, metallic, alive. I could feel the Veil breathing, could feel her pulse through it. Ava was dreaming. And somehow, I was inside it with her.
Her voice reached me first, soft, calling my name. Then I saw it.
A field of ash under a blood-red moon. The corpses of wolves and fae alike scattered across the ground. The sky burned in streaks of silver and gold. And at the center stood a man, me, his skin marked with light that pulsed like veins of fire. Elijah's shadow stood behind him, hand on his shoulder, whispering into his ear.
The air shimmered, and suddenly Ava was there, walking through the wreckage, calling out. The man who wore my face turned to her. His eyes were not mine. They were gold and hollow.
When he spoke, his voice was Elijah's. "You cannot save him, little flame. You can only stop him."
The vision shattered. I woke gasping, my body trembling with cold sweat. The bond burned through my veins like molten silver. I stumbled to my feet and stepped into the fog outside.
The night was silent. No wind, no sea, only the whisper of her heartbeat through the Veil.
Then she was there, barefoot, her hair tangled with mist, her eyes bright with something between fear and love. "Casimir."
Her voice steadied me and broke me all at once.
I dropped to one knee, pressing a hand to my chest. The mark there pulsed violently. She rushed to me, her hands warm against my skin. The moment she touched me, the pain stopped. The world stilled.
Her breath caught. "What is happening to you?"
"The bond is changing." My voice came out raw. "It is not just power anymore. It is possession."
She frowned, her thumb brushing the light that burned under my collarbone. "Then fight it."
"I am trying," I said, meeting her eyes. "But every time I look at you, it gets worse."
She blinked, startled. "Worse?"
"Closer," I whispered. "Stronger. I can feel your heartbeat even when you are not near. I can hear your thoughts when you dream. You are becoming part of me, Ava. And I do not know if I can survive it."
She hesitated, her gaze flicking to my lips, then back to my eyes. "You are not the only one it's happening to."
Before I could answer, she leaned in. The kiss was hesitant at first, then desperate, like trying to breathe underwater. The bond flared, flooding through us, light and shadow colliding. Every thought, every fear, every piece of me that had been buried for years came alive again in that single touch.
When we finally broke apart, her hand rested on my chest, and my heart beat beneath her palm like a trapped animal. "We were not supposed to find each other," she whispered.
"No," I said. "But we did."
The air grew colder. The sea began to glow faintly beyond the cliffs. Elijah's voice came with the wind.
"The King will die before dawn," it said softly. "The throne will fall to the son who cannot choose."
Ava froze. "He means you."
I looked toward the horizon. The Veil shimmered faintly, light threading through the dark like veins of glass. "Then it begins tonight."
She caught my arm. "You cannot go alone."
"I have to," I said. "If I do not, both worlds fall."
"Then I go with you."
I turned to her. "If you cross into my world, you may never come back."
She smiled faintly. "Neither will you."
The words left no room for argument. I reached for her hand, and she let me. The mark on her wrist glowed, answering mine. The bond pulsed between us, not gentle, not kind, but alive.
Nicholas appeared in the doorway then, his face pale. "If you both go, there will be no turning back. The Veil will not be kind to what it cannot contain."
"Then let it learn kindness," I said quietly. "Because I am done pretending it can cage us."
---
Ava
He did not sleep that night. I could feel him pacing, could hear his breath through the thin walls. The bond between us thrummed like a heartbeat too loud to silence.
When I finally drifted into sleep, I saw him again, not as he was, but as he would be. Standing at the gates of a shadowed city, light breaking over his shoulders like wings of fire. And behind him, a thousand wolves bowed their heads.
The Veil whispered his name, soft and certain. *Casimir Levi Kingston. Alpha of the fallen, heir of the broken light.*
I woke with tears on my cheeks, my heart beating too fast.
Somewhere beyond the fog, the bells of Havenscove began to toll. The sound was not mourning yet, but it would be.
Because dawn was coming. And with it, the end of the peace we had built.