Aurelia's POV
The knock echoed through the stone chamber like a death sentence.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
It wasn't frantic.
It wasn't impatient.
It was deliberate—like the rhythm of someone who already knew he had won.
Raffyn moved first, stepping between me and the door. Fire simmered beneath his skin, casting a molten glow across the room. Talon positioned himself on the opposite side, water spiraling up his arms like silver-blue armor. Lucien drew me backwards until my spine pressed against the far wall, his wings curling protectively around me like a shield.
Another knock.
Quieter.
More chilling.
"Aurelia," Jarek Nightfall's voice came through the wood—smooth, commanding, too calm for a man who had just annihilated half a ballroom. "Open the door. We need to speak."
My breath caught, trembling in my throat.
"No," Lucien whispered to me. "Don't answer. Don't even think his name."
As if responding to Lucien's defiance, the tower shifted—stones groaning, runes flickering, the magic wards straining under Jarek's presence alone.
Raffyn snarled. "He shouldn't even be able to touch the wards—"
"And yet he's testing them," Talon murmured, voice tense. "Looking for weak points."
A long silence followed.
Too long.
Then—
A fingertip dragged down the outside of the wooden door.
Soft.
Slow.
Almost affectionate.
"When your mother ran from me," Jarek said, tone lowering into a quiet rumble, "she thought she could hide you forever. But blood calls to blood, Aurelia. And tonight, your power answered."
My lungs constricted. "My… mother?"
Lucien tightened his hold around me. "Don't listen to him."
But I needed to.
I needed answers.
I needed truth.
Jarek continued, voice almost gentle. "You look like her, you know. The same hair. The same eyes. The same magic radiating from your skin."
Talon stiffened. "He's trying to manipulate you."
Raffyn's flames surged, flaring violently. "Let me burn him now."
A soft chuckle vibrated through the door.
Dark.
Knowing.
"Fire Alpha," Jarek said. "Temperamental. Predictable."
Raffyn snarled, flames bursting higher.
"Water Alpha," Jarek added. "Too calm for your own good. You'll make a lovely shield—until she breaks you."
Talon's jaw tightened, the water around him splashing sharply.
Then Jarek's voice softened, dripping like poison-coated honey.
"And the angel-born… still pretending she belongs with you instead of with me."
Lucien's wings flared wide, their light searing. "She will never belong to you."
"Oh, Lucien," Jarek murmured. "You still cling to the illusion of choice. But destiny has always belonged to her bloodline. And I was the last one to see her mother alive."
Silence stabbed into my chest.
I whispered, "Did you… kill her?"
For the first time, Jarek hesitated.
Then—
"No," he said simply. "She killed herself to keep you hidden."
The air left my lungs.
Lucien cursed under his breath and wrapped his arms around me tighter. "Don't believe him. He lies to break you."
But something sharp and deep twisted inside me. An ache that felt frighteningly real.
"Let me inside," Jarek said, voice softening. "I will tell you everything she never could."
"Absolutely not," Raffyn growled.
"I won't let you near her," Talon added.
The tower trembled again as Jarek pressed his palm flat against the wood. The runes flickered brighter, struggling.
Talon paled. "The wards are failing."
Raffyn stepped closer to the door. "Aurelia, get behind Lucien. If he breaks through—"
"He won't," Lucien said sharply. "Not while I'm here."
Jarek hummed. "Such confidence from such a fragile creature. Tell me, angel-born—how many centuries can your body withstand Witchwolf magic before you fall apart?"
Lucien winced.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
As if Jarek had touched something raw. Something scarred.
"You don't know anything," Lucien said quietly.
"Oh, but I do," Jarek whispered. "You think you protect her? Boy, Witchwolves consume what they bond with. Your father learned that the hard way, didn't he?"
Lucien froze.
Pain shut down his expression.
My heart split.
"Lucien… what is he talking about?"
Lucien swallowed hard, unable to speak.
Jarek continued mercilessly.
"Angel-born… half-breed… forbidden. Your father loved a Witchwolf—and her magic devoured him. Isn't that why the angels cast him out? Isn't that why he died?"
Lucien trembled.
I'd never seen him tremble.
Talon took a step toward him, eyes darkening with worry. "Lucien—"
But Lucien didn't answer. He only looked at me, anguish carved into every line of his face.
Raffyn turned back toward the door, flames surging violently. "Open this door, Nightfall. I'll kill you myself."
"You can try," Jarek said, amused. "But I'm not here to fight your little trio. I'm here for Aurelia."
"No." Talon's water spiraled fiercely. "You will not touch her."
Jarek chuckled. "Touch? Oh no. I don't need to touch her. She and I are already connected."
My blood ran cold.
"No," I whispered. "We aren't."
"Aren't we?" he asked softly.
"Then why did you hear me in your dreams?
Why did you feel my call tonight?
Why does your magic awaken only when I'm near?"
My knees weakened.
Lucien caught me instantly, wings wrapping around me like a cocoon.
"It's not him," Lucien whispered urgently. "Your magic responded to danger, not destiny."
Raffyn exhaled sharply. "We need to get her upstairs. Now. The higher level has reinforced wards."
Talon nodded. "Move."
"Don't you dare take her from this door," Jarek growled suddenly—his tone shifting from cold amusement to raw authority.
The tower shook violently. Dust rained from the ceiling.
"Aurelia," he snarled, voice cracking like a command from the moon itself, "COME TO ME."
The magic in my blood ignited—painful, burning, desperate.
I jerked forward involuntarily.
Lucien grabbed my waist, holding me back. "Aurelia, fight it!"
"I—can't—" My voice broke.
Talon snapped his fingers, water swirling around my temples, grounding me. "Breathe! It's a magical compulsion. Resist!"
Raffyn wrapped a flaming arm around my torso, anchoring me with heat. "Stay with us. Stay with me."
My vision blurred.
But slowly—
the pull weakened.
Raffyn's fire.
Talon's water.
Lucien's celestial light.
Three forces.
Three bonds.
Three anchors.
I collapsed against Lucien, trembling.
"Upstairs," Talon ordered. "Now!"
Lucien lifted me again, wings glowing bright. Raffyn and Talon flanked us, guiding us up the spiral staircase.
Below us, Jarek slammed his fist against the door.
The wards screamed.
The tower shuddered.
And Jarek Nightfall roared—
"AURELIA, YOU CANNOT HIDE FROM WHAT YOU ARE!"
Lucien whispered urgently into my hair as he carried me—
"Yes she can."
"And she will."
"With us."
I clung to hi
m, heart racing, as we reached the warded upper chamber.
But deep inside my bones, something whispered:
He was telling the truth about one thing.
My magic had recognized him.
And that terrified me more than anything.