Sera's POV
"One hour?" I repeat, my voice coming out as a squeak. "We have one hour before they decide to kill us?"
Thorne nods, her expression serious despite the casual way she's leaning against a crystal pillar. "The Celestial Order doesn't waste time when cosmic law is broken. Your bond violates about seventeen different universal rules. They're probably deciding right now whether execution is too merciful."
My knees go weak. Kaine catches my elbow, steadying me.
"This is my fault," I whisper. "I opened the box. I created the bond. You should just—just leave me here. Maybe if I'm alone, they'll only kill me and leave you—"
"Stop." Kaine's voice cuts through my panic. "I'm not leaving you."
"But—"
"No." He turns me to face him, his silver eyes intense. "The bond is permanent. If you die, I die. There's no separating us now. We survive together or not at all."
Through our connection, I feel the truth of his words. And something else—determination. He's not going to let me die. Even though we just met. Even though I ruined his life.
"So what do we do?" I ask.
Thorne pushes off the pillar. "We prepare. The Celestial Order will send someone to deliver their verdict. If it's execution, they'll try to carry it out immediately. We need to be ready to fight or run."
"Can we fight angels?" I ask weakly.
"Celestials aren't angels exactly, but close enough. And no, we probably can't win against a full squad." Thorne looks at Kaine. "But we might be able to negotiate."
"Negotiate what?" Kaine asks. "They want us dead. There's no middle ground."
"There might be." Thorne pulls out a glowing tablet—like an iPad but made of light. She swipes through screens. "The bond itself is the violation. But if Sera could prove her Realm Walker abilities serve the cosmic balance instead of threatening it, they might grant clemency."
"How do I prove that?" I ask. "I don't even know how to control my power!"
"Then we teach you. Fast." Thorne looks at me seriously. "Can you feel your power right now? Inside you?"
I close my eyes, searching. There—a warmth in my chest, separate from the bond. Like a sleeping fire. "Yes. I feel it."
"Good. That's your Realm Walker core. It lets you see and manipulate connections between things. Bonds. Threads of fate. Dimensional barriers." Thorne steps closer. "Try to see the bond between you and Kaine. Really see it."
I focus on the connection. At first, it's just a feeling—his emotions, his presence. But then I push deeper, and suddenly I see it.
A golden rope of light, stretching from my heart to his. Beautiful and terrifying. It pulses with energy, alive and strong.
"I see it," I breathe. "It's gold. Like a rope made of light."
Kaine and Thorne exchange glances.
"What?" I ask, opening my eyes. "What does that mean?"
"Soul bonds are usually silver or white," Thorne explains. "Gold means something else. Something ancient." She studies me. "The bond isn't just connecting you—it's transforming you both. Changing you into something new."
"Is that bad?"
"Depends on your perspective. The Celestial Order will definitely think it's bad." Thorne checks her tablet. "Forty-five minutes left."
My stomach drops. "We're wasting time. What else can I learn?"
For the next half hour, Thorne and Kaine push me through the fastest crash course in magic ever. I learn to see the threads connecting everything—people to places, objects to memories, even the thin barriers between dimensions.
I'm exhausted and my head pounds, but I'm getting it. Slowly.
"Try opening a small portal," Thorne instructs. "Nothing big. Just a window to another room in this castle."
I focus on the space in front of me, seeing the dimensional fabric. I reach out with my power and pull.
A small tear opens—barely the size of a dinner plate. Through it, I can see another crystal room.
"Good!" Thorne says. "Now close it."
I let go and the portal snaps shut.
"I did it," I gasp, amazed.
"You're learning fast." Kaine's voice holds something like pride. "Faster than you should be able to."
Before I can respond, alarms blare through the castle. Red light floods the room.
"They're here," Thorne says grimly. "Early."
My heart stops. "I thought we had more time!"
"Apparently they reached a decision quickly." Thorne's hands start glowing with purple energy. "Get behind me. Both of you."
"No." Kaine steps forward. "I'll face them."
"Kaine—"
"They're here for me as much as her. I knew the risks of the bond. I accept the consequences."
Through our connection, I feel his resolve. His acceptance of death. And underneath it—regret. Not for bonding with me, but that he couldn't have more time to know me.
It breaks something in my chest.
"No," I say firmly. "Nobody's dying today."
Both of them look at me in surprise.
The massive crystal doors blow open. Five figures enter, radiating power so intense the air around them shimmers. They wear white armor that glows like captured starlight. Their faces are beautiful and terrible.
The leader steps forward, her eyes pure white, no pupils. "Kaine Ashver, Eternal Sovereign. Sera Blackwood, Realm Walker. The Celestial Order has reached its verdict regarding your forbidden bond."
My hands shake but I force myself to stand straight. If I'm going to die, I'll do it with dignity.
"The verdict is as follows." The celestial's voice echoes with power. "The bond between immortal and mortal violates cosmic law. However—"
However? My heart leaps.
"—the Celestial Order recognizes the unique nature of this situation. The Realm Walker bloodline was thought extinct. Its return suggests cosmic will rather than accident." She looks at me directly. "Sera Blackwood, you will be tested. If you pass, both of you may live. If you fail, both of you die."
"What kind of test?" Kaine demands.
"A trial by fate." The celestial gestures, and a new portal opens beside her—massive, swirling with colors that hurt to look at. "Enter the Trial Realm. Face what waits inside. Survive until dawn in your realm—roughly six hours from now. Do this, and your bond will be recognized as lawful."
"And if we don't survive?" I ask.
"Then the problem solves itself."
Thorne steps forward. "This is insane. Trial Realms are designed to kill. No one's passed one in five hundred years!"
"Then they should be motivated to try very hard." The celestial's expression doesn't change. "You have thirty seconds to enter voluntarily. After that, we execute you both here and now."
Kaine takes my hand. Through the bond, I feel his fear. His anger. His protectiveness.
"Together?" he asks quietly.
I look at the swirling portal. At the celestial warriors ready to kill us. At Thorne's worried face.
Six hours. We just have to survive six hours in some nightmare realm designed to kill people.
"Together," I agree.
We step toward the portal. The celestials part, letting us pass.
"One more thing," the leader says as we reach the portal's edge. "The Trial Realm will attack your greatest weaknesses. Your deepest fears. The bond between you might be your strength—or it might be what destroys you."
"Comforting," I mutter.
Kaine squeezes my hand. "Ready?"
"Not even a little bit."
"Good answer."
We jump.
The portal swallows us whole, and I have one second to realize we're falling again before we hit solid ground hard.
I groan, pushing myself up. We're in a forest—massive trees stretching up forever, twisted and wrong. The sky above is green instead of blue. Everything smells like decay.
"Where are we?" I ask.
Kaine is already on his feet, alert. "The Trial Realm. It'll manifest our—"
He stops. Goes completely still.
"Kaine?"
"Run," he whispers.
"What?"
"RUN!"
I look where he's staring and my blood turns to ice.
Emerging from the trees are creatures that look exactly like Kaine—dozens of them, identical copies with silver eyes and dark hair. But their expressions are wrong. Twisted. Evil.
And behind them, more figures appear. These ones look like me. But their eyes are empty and dead.
The Kaine-copies smile with too many teeth.
"Welcome to the Trial," they say in unison, in Kaine's voice but layered with echoes. "Let's see if your bond can survive yourselves."
They attack.
And I realize with horror that we have to fight versions of ourselves to survive.
For six hours.