Isla's POV
I woke up in a cage.
Not a metaphorical cage—an actual metal cage hanging from chains in a dark room. My head pounded. My mouth tasted like blood. The glowing symbols on my skin flickered weakly.
"She's awake," a voice said from the shadows. "Tell the Master."
Footsteps echoed away. I tried to move but couldn't. Some kind of magic bound me, making my limbs heavy and useless.
Kael, I thought desperately. Where are you?
I reached for our soul-bond but hit a wall—something blocking the connection. I could feel he was alive, fighting, searching for me. But he couldn't sense where I was.
"The binding spell is quite effective, isn't it?" The man in black armor stepped into the dim light. He removed his helmet, revealing a face that might have been handsome once but was now twisted with dark magic. Scars covered his skin, and his eyes glowed red. "You can't call your Guardian. Can't use your power. Can't escape. You're completely helpless."
"Who are you?" My voice came out hoarse.
"I am Lord Malachar, leader of the Shadowsworn. And you, little Veilweaver, are my prize." He circled the cage like a predator. "Do you know how long I've been planning this? Twenty-six years. Since the day your mother destroyed half my organization and had my brothers executed."
"Good," I spat. "They deserved it."
His hand shot through the cage bars and grabbed my throat. "Your mother thought she was clever. Hiding in the human realm. Marrying some weak scholar. Having a child and hoping the power would skip you." He squeezed tighter. "But I'm patient. I waited. Watched. And when your power started to awaken six years ago, I struck."
"You killed my parents," I gasped.
"I did." He smiled. "Your father died quickly—one strike, very merciful. But your mother?" His eyes gleamed. "She fought hard. Begged me to spare you. Even tried to bargain—her life and power for yours. I almost accepted. But then I realized something better."
He released my throat, and I coughed, gasping for air.
"Why kill the daughter when I could use her?" Malachar continued. "So I let you live. Placed Victoria in your father's life months before the attack. Made sure she'd take everything from you after they died. Kept you weak, isolated, desperate. The perfect victim."
Everything clicked into horrible place. "Marcus too? My engagement?"
"Oh yes. Marcus Aldridge, ambitious scholar looking for recognition. So easy to manipulate. We fed him opportunities, made him think stealing your research was his idea. Having him betray you publicly? That was just bonus humiliation." He laughed. "You should have seen your face at that engagement party. Broken. Perfect."
Rage burned through me, hot and fierce. "I'll kill you."
"No, you won't. Because in a few hours, you're going to tear open the Veil for me. Willingly."
"Never."
"We'll see." He walked to a table covered with dark tools. "Victoria wanted to break you through mental torture. Marcus thought seduction and guilt would work. But I prefer a more direct approach."
He picked up something that looked like a collar made of black metal. Symbols carved into it pulsed with wrong energy.
"This is a Compulsion Collar. Once locked around your throat, you'll do exactly what I command. Your will becomes mine. Your power becomes mine." He brought it closer to the cage. "And you'll destroy the Veil, merge the realms, and give the Shadowsworn dominion over everything."
"The Lunar Court will stop you," I said, trying to sound brave. "Kael will find me. He won't let this happen."
"Your precious Guardian is busy defending a Court under siege. By the time he breaks through our forces and finds this location, you'll already be collared and obedient." Malachar smiled. "In fact, the first thing I'll have you do is call him here and kill him yourself. Wouldn't that be poetic?"
Horror washed over me. Killing Kael. Being forced to destroy the one person who'd shown me kindness. Who'd believed in me.
"Please," I whispered. "Don't do this."
"Begging? How disappointing. I expected more fight from Lydia's daughter." He unlocked the cage. "But no matter. Soon you won't have a choice."
The cage door swung open. Malachar reached for me with the collar.
Suddenly, the wall exploded inward.
Kael stood in the breach, his sword blazing with moonlight, his face a mask of cold fury. Blood covered his armor, but his eyes locked onto me with fierce intensity.
"Get away from her," he said, his voice deadly quiet.
Malachar spun around, genuinely surprised. "Impossible. You shouldn't have found this place so quickly—"
"You underestimated our bond." Kael moved forward, blade ready. "I will always find her. And I will always kill anyone who tries to hurt her."
"How touching." Malachar raised his hand, and dark magic crackled around his fingers. "One cursed Guardian against the greatest dark mage in three centuries? This should be entertaining."
They clashed in an explosion of light and shadow. Kael's blade met Malachar's dark magic, and the impact shook the entire building. I tried to move, to help, but the binding spell held me frozen in the cage.
"Isla!" A familiar voice called from outside. Captain Theron burst through another wall, followed by a dozen Guardians. "Hold on!"
Theron ran to the cage and started breaking the locks. "Can you move?"
"Binding spell," I gasped. "Can't—"
"I've got you." He lifted me out of the cage like I weighed nothing and carried me toward the breach. "We need to get you out of here!"
Behind us, Kael and Malachar's battle intensified. Dark magic and moonlight tore the building apart. Kael was faster, but Malachar was stronger. They were evenly matched.
"We can't leave him!" I shouted at Theron.
"He'll follow once you're safe!" Theron ran through corridors while other Guardians fought Shadowsworn soldiers trying to stop us. "That's the plan!"
"What plan? When did you make a plan?"
"About thirty seconds after you got kidnapped!" He burst through a door into cold night air. "The Commander nearly tore the Court apart trying to find you. We tracked you through the soul-bond's residual energy. It's weak, but it was enough."
He set me down outside, and I immediately tried to run back in. "Kael's still in there!"
"And he'll be very angry if we let you get recaptured!" Theron blocked my path. "The binding spell will wear off in a few minutes. Then we get you back to the Court and—"
An explosion from inside the building sent flames shooting into the sky. The structure began to collapse.
"KAEL!" I screamed.
Theron held me back as the building fell, dust and debris everywhere. Guardians retreated from the destruction. And there was no sign of Kael.
Through our bond, I felt pain. His pain. Sharp and overwhelming.
"No," I whispered. "No, no, no—"
The dust began to clear. A figure walked through the rubble.
Kael emerged, battered and bleeding, supporting himself on his sword. But he was alive.
I broke from Theron's grip and ran to him. He caught me with his free arm, holding me tight.
"You're alive," I sobbed into his chest. "I felt you hurt, I thought—"
"I'm fine." His voice was strained. "Malachar escaped through a portal. Coward."
"You're bleeding everywhere!"
"Flesh wounds." He pulled back to look at me, his silver eyes searching my face. "Did he hurt you? Did he—"
"No. You got here in time." I touched his face. "Thank you. Again."
Something shifted in his expression. Without warning, he pulled me into a fierce kiss—desperate and claiming and full of emotion he was still learning to express.
When we broke apart, I was breathless.
"Don't ever get kidnapped again," he said roughly. "I can't—" He stopped, jaw tight. "Just don't."
"I'll try not to."
Theron cleared his throat behind us. "Sorry to interrupt, but we need to move. Shadowsworn reinforcements could arrive any moment, and the Commander needs medical attention whether he admits it or not."
We made our way back through a portal to the Lunar Court. Healers immediately swarmed Kael despite his protests. I was checked too—bruised but not seriously hurt.
Elder Seraphine found me in the healing ward. "Thank the Moon Goddess. When we felt the bond strain, we feared the worst."
"Malachar wanted to collar me. Force me to destroy the Veil." I shivered. "He said Victoria and Marcus were planted in my life. Everything was planned."
"I know. We captured some Shadowsworn soldiers during the battle. They confirmed it." Her expression was grave. "But there's something else you need to know. While you were gone, Lyra woke up. She had a message for you. From your mother."
My heart stopped. "What? How?"
"Your mother gave Lyra's family something years ago—a sealed letter with instructions to give it to Lyra on your twenty-sixth birthday if anything happened to your parents. Lyra was trying to bring it to you when the Shadowsworn attacked."
Seraphine handed me an envelope, yellowed with age. My mother's handwriting on the front: For Isla, when she awakens.
My hands shook as I opened it. Inside was a letter and a small silver key.
I read the letter, and with each word, my understanding of everything shifted:
My darling Isla,
If you're reading this, I'm gone. I'm so sorry I couldn't stay to guide you through what's coming. By now, your power has awakened, and the Shadowsworn are hunting you. But there's something they don't know. Something I've hidden even from your father.
You're not just a Veilweaver, my love. You're the Last Daughter of the Moon—a bloodline I thought extinct. Your power isn't just to manipulate the Veil. You can create or destroy entire realms. That's why Malachar killed me. Not for revenge, but because he learned what you truly are.
The key opens a vault in the Lunar Court's deepest level. Inside, you'll find the truth about your heritage and the weapon that can stop the Shadowsworn forever. But be warned—using it requires a sacrifice. One I pray you'll never have to make.
I love you, Isla. Be strong. Be brave. And trust the one whose soul resonates with yours. He will help you when the darkness comes.
—Mother
I looked up at Seraphine, my mind reeling. "What's the Last Daughter of the Moon?"
Her face had gone pale. "A legend. A myth. The most powerful Veilweaver bloodline, descended directly from the Moon Goddess herself. They were hunted to extinction five hundred years ago." She stared at the key in my hand. "Or so we thought."
"What does this mean?"
"It means," a cold voice said from the doorway, "that you're far more valuable than we realized."
I turned to see the Council's star-eyed leader, flanked by guards. His expression was calculating.
"The Last Daughter can't be allowed to exist uncontrolled," he continued. "Too dangerous. Too powerful. The Council has voted. Isla Thorne, you will be placed in stasis until we can determine how to safely extract your power without destroying you. Guards, seize her."
"What? No!" I backed away.
Kael appeared, stepping between me and the guards. "You'll have to go through me first."
"Guardian Kael, stand down," the Council leader ordered. "This is for the greater good—"
"The greater good can go to hell." Kael's blade ignited. "No one touches her."
More guards poured into the healing ward. Theron moved to Kael's side, weapon drawn. Other Guardians who'd helped rescue me did the same.
The room split into two sides—those loyal to the Council, and those loyal to Kael.
"This is treason," the Council leader said coldly.
"This is protection," Kael corrected. "She's under my charge. My bond. And I won't let you imprison her for crimes she hasn't committed."
I clutched my mother's letter, the key heavy in my palm. Everything was falling apart. The Shadowsworn wanted to control me. The Council wanted to lock me away. And I was supposedly some legendary bloodline that could create or destroy worlds.
"Kael," I whispered. "What do we do?"
He looked at me, and in his silver eyes, I saw a decision being made. A line being crossed.
"We run," he said. "All of us. Tonight. Before they can stop us."
"Run where?"
"To find that vault. To discover what your mother left you. And to figure out what the hell you really are before everyone tries to use you for it."
The Council leader raised his hand. "This is your last warning, Guardian. Stand down or be branded a traitor to the Lunar Court."
Kael's answer was to grab my hand and pull me toward the window.
"Theron! Cover us!"
Theron and the loyal Guardians charged the Council's forces. Chaos erupted.
Kael and I jumped through the window, falling three stories before he caught us with some kind of magic. We hit the ground running.
"The vault!" I gasped. "Do you know where it is?"
"Deep Archives, below the Council chambers. Most restricted area in the Court." He pulled me through the shadows, avoiding patrols. "Breaking in is considered treason."
"You're already committing treason!"
"Then what's one more crime?" He flashed a reckless smile—the first real smile I'd seen from him. "Hold on, little Veilweaver. This is about to get interesting."
We raced toward the palace, alarms ringing behind us, the entire Lunar Court mobilizing to stop us.
And somewhere in the darkness, I felt Malachar watching and waiting for his next move.
The key burned hot in my palm, and I wondered what truth my mother had hidden that was worth all this chaos.
I was about to find out.