The coordinates led Rhea through the dripping forest, the rain turning to fog, the air sharp with pine and cold.
Her body ached.
Her knees were raw.
Her hair was soaked and tangled.
But she didn't stop.
Not until the forest opened into a narrow canyon—
and a small metal cabin stood at the center, half-hidden behind rock shadows.
A single dim light glowed inside.
Rhea's heartbeat thundered.
Soren was here.
The man who captured Adrian.
Who hunted them?
Who obeyed Lucien.
Who killed without blinking.
And now—
The man claimed he was not her enemy.
She took a shaky breath.
"Okay…" she whispered to herself.
"You wanted this… you came for this…"
She stepped forward.
The cabin door creaked open—
as if her presence alone triggered it.
Inside stood Soren.
Not armored.
Not armed.
Just… standing.
Waiting.
His clothes were dry.
His dark hair was pulled back.
Face unreadable.
Eyes colder than the steel walls behind him.
"Close the door," Soren said quietly.
Rhea didn't move.
"Where is Adrian?" she demanded.
"Close the door," he repeated.
Rhea's jaw tightened—but she stepped inside and shut it.
Instantly, Soren walked to the small metal console and flipped a series of switches.
A sharp pulse of static filled the room.
"Signal dampeners," he said.
"Lucien can't listen. Can't track. Can't interfere."
Rhea's heart slammed harder.
"Why?" she whispered.
Soren turned toward her.
For the first time since she'd met him—
He looked almost human.
Tired.
Hunted.
Wounded in a place deeper than flesh.
"Because," Soren said softly,
"I'm trying to keep you alive."
Rhea stared.
"You captured Adrian!" she burst out.
"You handed him to Lucien! And now you expect me to believe you're helping?"
Soren's jaw flexed with something like guilt—quick, sharp, gone.
"Lucien ordered the capture," he said.
"I executed it. But not for the reasons you think."
Rhea stepped closer, anger trembling through her bones.
"Give me one reason not to hate you."
Soren didn't flinch.
Didn't defend himself.
He just said, quietly—
"Adrian would want you to listen."
Rhea felt her breath catch.
"Don't," she whispered.
"Don't use his name."
Soren exhaled, almost frustrated.
"You want the truth?"
He pointed to the metal chair across from him.
"Sit. Or walk out that door and die within the hour."
Rhea hesitated.
Then she sat.
Soren sat opposite her, elbows on his knees, hands clasped.
"The curse," he began, "didn't start with the Knight bloodline."
Rhea frowned.
"Adrian said—"
"Adrian knows only half."
Soren leaned forward.
"He wasn't told the entire truth. Lucien hides it. The ancestors buried it. And the spirits guard it."
Rhea's palms grew cold.
"What truth?"
Soren studied her for a long, heavy moment.
Then he said the sentence that shattered the ground beneath her feet:
"The curse didn't choose the Knight bloodline."
"It was created by them."
Rhea's breath froze.
"No…"
"Your ancestor," Soren continued,
"was not a victim."
"She was the one who cast the curse."
Rhea shook her head.
"No—Adrian showed me her portrait. He said she was killed—"
"She was," Soren said.
"But only after she cursed the Knights."
Rhea felt dizzy.
"This makes no sense. Adrian said the curse started because his ancestor betrayed her—"
"Wrong."
Soren's voice turned sharp.
"His ancestor loved her."
"He died trying to protect her."
"And she cursed his entire bloodline anyway."
Rhea felt her stomach twist.
"You're lying."
"I wish I were."
Soren leaned back, eyes dark.
"The curse wasn't born from love or betrayal…
It was born from power."
Rhea blinked, shaking.
"What power?"
Soren's gaze locked onto hers.
"Your ancestor wasn't human."
The cabin felt suddenly too small, too cold.
"What do you mean—she wasn't human?"
Soren rubbed his thumb along his jaw.
"She was half-spirit. Born from a forbidden union. A being with abilities neither side understood. And she used her power to bind the Knights to a lifelong sacrifice."
Rhea whispered:
"Why?"
And Soren answered:
"To protect the child she carried."
Rhea froze.
"What, child?"
"The one inside her when she died."
Soren's voice softened.
"She wasn't just your ancestor."
"She was the origin of your bloodline."
Rhea's heart hammered.
"But what does this have to do with me?"
Soren looked at her like she was a puzzle finally understood.
"Rhea, the curse didn't awaken because of Adrian."
Her pulse stilled.
"It awakened because of you."
Silence swallowed the room.
Then—
Soren stood slowly, walked to a metal chest, and opened it.
Inside was a small, ancient box wrapped in black silk.
Soren lifted it with reverent hands.
"Your ancestor left this," he said.
"For the first descendant whose presence reactivated the curse."
He held it out to her.
"For you."
Rhea didn't move.
She couldn't.
Her voice broke.
"Why… why would she choose me?"
Soren met her eyes with a truth so heavy she felt it in her bones.
"Because you're the only one who can end it."
Rhea's vision blurred with shock.
Soren stepped closer, lowering his voice.
"And that is why Lucien wants you alive."
Rhea felt the world tilt.
"Because I can break it?"
Soren shook his head.
"No."
He placed the box gently into her trembling hands.
"Because you can control it."
Rhea staggered as if he'd struck her.
She didn't even feel the tears falling until they hit the box.
Soren watched her—face unreadable, but voice surprisingly gentle.
"I'm not your enemy, Rhea."
"I'm the only one who knows what you truly are."
Her breath trembled.
"What… am I?"
Soren held her gaze.
"A descendant of the first spirit-blood."
"The final key."
"And the reason Adrian Knight is fated to die if he stays bonded to you."
Rhea's knees almost buckled.
"No…"
Soren stepped forward, lowering his voice.
"You want to save him?"
His eyes softened—barely.
"Then learn the truth before Lucien uses it against both of you."
Rhea looked down at the ancient box, her hands shaking violently.
Inside it lay the origin of everything.
Her identity.
Her power.
Her bloodline.
Her fate.
And Adrian's.
Soren whispered:
"Open it."
Rhea lifted the lid—
And the room gasped with cold air as an ancient symbol—a glowing sigil—rose from the darkness.
It burned with the same light she'd seen under Adrian's skin.
Her lineage.
Her curse.
Her power.
And the truth Adrian never knew.