Cold.
That was the first thing he felt.
Cold metal beneath his knees.
Cold restraints biting into his wrists.
Cold air filling a room too bright, too sterile, and too quiet.
Adrian forced his eyes open.
White lights.
Concrete walls.
A humming sound—machines, restraints, power lines.
Lucien's base.
He was kneeling in the center of a containment circle carved with ancient symbols.
Symbols meant to suppress the curse inside him.
His head throbbed.
His vision doubled.
His muscles refused to obey.
But even through the pain—
He felt her.
Rhea.
A sudden spike of fear.
Then confusion.
Then—
Power.
Raw, ancient, awakening power.
Adrian's breath stuttered.
"No," he whispered.
"Rhea… What did you touch?"
His marks began glowing faintly under his skin.
Lucien's voice slid into the room like a knife dipped in silk.
"Finally awake."
Adrian lifted his head, teeth clenched.
"What did you do to her?"
Lucien walked toward him, hands behind his back.
"I didn't touch her."
A thin smile.
"But she touched something she shouldn't have."
Adrian's heart dropped.
"Lucien—"
"The box your ancestor sealed."
Lucien circled him.
"The key. The sigil. The awakening."
Adrian's pulse roared in his ears.
"No—she wasn't supposed to—she wasn't ready—"
Lucien crouched in front of him, eyes cold.
"You never told her the truth."
A soft, poisonous whisper.
"So I let someone else do it."
Adrian's vision snapped.
"Soren."
"Mm," Lucien hummed.
"My loyal hound… who bites only when I allow it."
Adrian's voice cracked as fury ripped through him.
"You bastard—if you go near her—"
"I won't need to," Lucien murmured.
"She's coming to us."
Adrian stiffened.
"No. Rhea would never—"
Lucien smiled.
"She will. Because she thinks she can save you."
Adrian's rage flickered—
and fear hit him like a collapsing world.
"Lucien," he said slowly,
"If she steps inside this place, the curse will—"
Lucien stood.
"Exactly."
Adrian's stomach turned.
"No."
"Yes."
"You can't—Lucien, she's not—"
"She's not human?" Lucien finished calmly.
"Oh, I know."
Adrian froze.
Lucien watched him with cold amusement.
"What? You thought I didn't know what she was?"
He shook his head.
"Adrian, my dear brother—"
Adrian's blood went cold.
Brother.
Not by blood, but oath.
Bond.
Family of the curse.
Lucien stepped closer.
"She is the last spirit-blood descendant. The one who can either break or bind the curse permanently."
Adrian knew this.
He knew it too well.
But he hadn't told her.
Couldn't.
Lucien tilted his head.
"And if she chooses wrong…"
Adrian's heart hammered.
"Lucien—don't—"
"She will kill you."
Adrian went still.
Lucien's smile widened at the pain flickering through Adrian's eyes.
"That's right. She doesn't know yet, does she?"
Adrian said nothing.
Because silence was safer than truth.
Lucien leaned close enough for Adrian to feel his breath.
"When she unlocks her power fully, the curse will seek balance."
His voice dropped.
"And the only way to balance spirit-blood…"
Adrian squeezed his eyes shut.
"It is a life exchange," Lucien finished.
"Yours."
Adrian's breath shook.
He'd always known.
He'd always carried it.
But hearing it aloud—
Made it real.
Lucien whispered,
"She will choose. She will kill you. Because she won't know she's doing it."
Adrian lifted his head, eyes blazing.
"I won't let her."
Lucien chuckled.
"That's why you're here. So she won't have a choice."
And then—
Lucien activated the restraints.
Agony exploded through Adrian's body, white-hot, merciless, tearing through nerve and bone and soul.
He collapsed forward, gasping, the curse ripping beneath his skin.
Marks flared across his chest, neck, and arms—burning the same shape as the sigil Rhea had just awakened.
Lucien watched calmly.
"Your bond is stronger than I expected," he mused.
"She must have opened the box."
Adrian's heart shattered.
"No… Rhea… why…"
Lucien leaned in slowly.
"This is just the beginning."
The lights above flickered—once, twice.
Then the entire base trembled.
A shockwave rippled through the air.
Lucien paused.
Adrian lifted his head despite the pain.
He felt it too.
Her power.
Awakening.
Searching for him.
Calling his name.
"Rhea…"
The curse surged violently in response—so violently that the containment sigils cracked.
Lucien's eyes widened.
Adrian's marks blazed.
The bond roared.
And deep inside the base—
The alarms began to scream.
Warning. Unknown energy detected.
Warning. External force approaching.
Warning—
Lucien stared at the trembling walls.
"What in hell—"
Adrian's strained voice broke the air.
"She's coming."
Lucien turned sharply.
"No—she can't—she doesn't control it yet—"
But it was too late.
The next shockwave nearly knocked him off his feet.
The temperature dropped.
The lights stuttered.
A wind howled inside the sealed concrete room.
Adrian lifted his head, eyes glowing unnaturally.
"Lucien," he whispered.
The markings on his chest burned white.
"You should run."
RHEA
Rhea stumbled as the sigil in her hands pulsed again—
a bright, violent surge that nearly buckled her knees.
"What… what is happening to me?" She gasped.
Soren grabbed her shoulders to steady her, eyes wide.
"The bond," he said sharply.
"It's reacting to Adrian."
Another pulse.
Stronger.
Wilder.
Rhea screamed as the energy ripped through her chest.
She dropped to her knees, gripping the dirt.
"Make it stop—MAKE IT STOP!"
Soren knelt beside her, trying to hold her still.
"You opened the box—you activated the bloodline—there's no stopping it—"
"Adrian—" she cried out, voice raw, cracking.
"He's hurting—he's—"
Soren's brows snapped together.
"You feel his pain?"
Rhea nodded desperately.
"I feel everything—every shock—every wound—Soren, he's dying—HE'S DYING—"
Soren cursed under his breath.
"This is worse than I thought. Rhea—listen to me—"
Another scream tore from her throat as the sigil seared against her palms, glowing like molten fire.
Her veins burned silver under her skin.
Soren grabbed her face, forcing her to look at him.
"Rhea, breathe."
"I—I can't—"
"Focus on him."
Soren shook her gently.
"Find him through the bond. You have power he doesn't. You can reach him."
Rhea gasped, trembling.
"But… how?"
Soren whispered:
"Call his name."
Rhea's eyes fluttered shut.
She clutched the glowing sigil with both hands.
And through tears, pain, terror—
She breathed the only word her heart knew.
"Adrian…"
The forest exploded with power.
Wind roared.
Earth trembled.
The sigil blazed like a star.
And somewhere deep in a concrete prison—
Adrian Knight heard her.