SERA'S POV
The windows explode.
Glass flies everywhere like deadly rain. I throw my arms over my face as divine light floods the library so bright it burns.
Through the brilliance, I see them—three figures in gleaming armor stepping through the broken windows. Not assassins this time. Something worse.
Divine guards.
"Seraphina, former Goddess of Dawn," one announces in a voice that echoes with power. "You are hereby summoned to Celestia for immediate trial and execution."
My heart stops.
Thalia moves fast, stepping between me and the guards. "She's under Keeper protection. You can't—"
"The Council's orders override all protections." The guard's hand goes to his sword. "Stand aside, mortal."
Caspian's hand closes around my wrist. For a second, I think he's going to hand me over. Then he pulls me behind him.
"No," he says quietly.
The word hangs in the air like thunder.
The divine brand on Caspian's chest blazes red through his shirt. I can see it glowing, burning. His curse is trying to force him to obey. His whole body shakes with the effort of resisting.
"Keeper Thorne," the guard warns. "You are bound by divine law to—"
"I said no." Blood trickles from Caspian's nose. Fighting the curse is killing him, but he doesn't move. "Leave. Now."
The guards exchange looks. One raises his sword.
That's when Thalia throws something—a small glass vial that shatters at their feet. Purple smoke explodes everywhere. The guards cough and stumble backward.
"Run!" Thalia shouts. "Both of you, go!"
Caspian grabs my hand and we run.
We don't stop until we're deep in Veilwood Forest, gasping for breath in a small clearing. Caspian collapses against a tree, clutching his chest where the brand still glows angry red.
"You're hurt," I say, kneeling beside him. "The curse—"
"I'll live." He winces. "For now."
"Why did you do that? You could have died!"
"Because they were going to kill you." He looks at me with those storm-gray eyes. "And I'm done pretending I'm okay with that."
My throat tightens. "Caspian—"
"We need to keep moving," he says, standing on shaky legs. "They'll track us. We have maybe an hour before they find this location."
"Where do we go?"
"There's a safe house. Three miles north. Thalia showed it to me years ago." He starts walking, but I grab his arm.
"Wait. Just... wait a second." I'm shaking and I don't know if it's from fear or adrenaline or something else. "You just committed treason for me. You could be executed for this."
"I know."
"So why? Why now? What changed?"
Caspian is quiet for a long moment. Then he says, "You asked me earlier how long I've lived alone. Sixteen years, Sera. Sixteen years in that manor with nothing but duty and ghosts." He looks at me. "You want to know about my life? Fine. Let's walk and talk. Before they find us."
We move through the forest. Caspian keeps checking behind us, but he starts talking.
"I was eighteen when my parents died," he says. "They were guarding a fallen war god. Brutal, violent, completely insane. One night, he broke his chains." His voice goes flat. "I found them in the morning. What was left of them."
"Caspian—"
"The Council arrived that same day. Didn't even let me bury them properly. They performed the binding ceremony right there, transferred the curse from my dead father to me, made me Keeper." He laughs bitterly. "Happy eighteenth birthday."
I feel like someone punched me in the stomach. "You were just a kid."
"The curse doesn't care about age. From that moment, I belonged to the gods. Every order they gave, I had to obey. Every prisoner they sent, I had to guard. Even when I knew they were innocent."
"Like me," I whisper.
"Like you." He stops walking, turns to face me. "I read the full communications about your case. The Council knew Luminara framed you. They didn't care. They wanted you gone because you threatened their power."
Anger flares hot in my chest. "And you just... kept me in chains? Knowing that?"
"What choice did I have?" His voice cracks. "The curse would have killed me if I freed you. So I stayed quiet, locked you up, hated myself every single day." He takes a shaky breath. "Do you know what it's like? Seeing you in those chains? Hearing you ask why you're imprisoned when I know the truth but literally can't speak it?"
Tears burn my eyes. I see it now—the loneliness that matches mine. He's been a prisoner too, just with different chains.
"I'm sorry," I say softly.
"Don't apologize to me." He wipes his eyes roughly. "I'm the one who—"
I take his hand.
He freezes. Stares at our joined hands like he can't believe I'm touching him.
"You saved my life today," I say. "You chose me over your curse, over your duty, over everything. That matters."
For a moment, I think he might pull away. His fingers twitch. But then his hand tightens around mine.
"We should keep moving," he says quietly. But he doesn't let go.
We walk hand-in-hand through the darkening forest. I can feel his pulse racing against my palm. Feel the warmth of him beside me. This man who kept me prisoner is the same man who just destroyed his entire life to protect me.
I don't know what that means yet. But I know I'm starting to care about him in ways that terrify me.
We're almost to the safe house when Caspian suddenly stops.
"Do you hear that?" he whispers.
I listen. At first, nothing. Then—footsteps. Lots of them. Surrounding us.
Divine guards step out from between the trees. Six of them this time. We're completely surrounded.
But it's not the guards that make my blood run cold.
It's the woman who walks out behind them.
She looks exactly like me. Same face, same eyes, same height. But where I feel broken and lost, she radiates power and certainty.
My sister.
Luminara.
She smiles at me—cold and beautiful and terrible.
"Hello, Sera," she says. "Did you really think you could run from me?"
She raises her hand and divine light blazes from her palm.
"I've waited three years to finish what I started," she says. "Time to say goodbye, sister."
The light builds brighter, hotter, deadly—
And I realize I'm about to die.