Chapter Ten: Threads of Moonlight
Kael found her by the lake.
The waters rippled under the moonlight, silver-blue and still. Aria sat at the edge, knees pulled to her chest, the pendant clutched in her fist.
"I was looking for you," Kael said quietly as he approached.
Aria didn't turn around. "Then why do I always feel like you're hiding?"
Kael sat beside her. "Because I am."
She finally looked at him. The glow of the moon reflected in his eyes, too bright for any human.
"I saw Lena today," she said. "But she wasn't… Lena."
His jaw clenched. "They've started taking forms now. Pulling at your memories. You're getting closer."
"Closer to what?"
"To the truth," Kael murmured. "And to your power."
Aria stared out at the lake. "She said not everyone wants me to survive this. Are you one of them?"
Kael's head turned sharply. "You think I'd protect you just to betray you?"
"I think," she whispered, "that I don't know anything anymore. I don't know who I am. I don't know what I'm meant to become. And I don't know what you'll do if it's not what they want."
He didn't answer right away.
Then he reached into his coat and pulled out a book—ancient, worn, bound in black leather. He handed it to her.
"What's this?" she asked.
"The Book of Moonborn," Kael said. "The original pact was written in here. Names, marks, powers… destinies."
She opened it, fingers trembling. Symbols danced across the pages—some of which matched the mark on her wrist. Others she didn't recognize.
But on one page, the writing stopped her heart.
> Name: Aria of the Twin Moons
Fate: Split by Light and Shadow. Salvation or Ruin.
Guardian: Kael Draven — Bound to Her Blood.
Bound.
Her breath hitched. "You were assigned to me."
"I was chosen," Kael said. "By the pact. But I stayed by choice."
"You could leave?"
He looked away. "Not anymore."
---
They sat in silence for a while.
Then Kael turned to her, his voice quieter than it had ever been.
"If you fall, Aria... if the power overtakes you, I'll have to make a choice. And I don't know if I'm strong enough to make the right one."
Aria's voice cracked. "Then don't let me fall."
Their eyes locked.
He reached for her hand—and when their fingers touched, the lake erupted in light.
A circle of moonfire burst around them, glowing brighter and brighter, until Aria gasped.
She wasn't just feeling her power anymore.
She was channeling it.
---
For the first time, she saw what Kael had always seen in her:
Not a girl.
Not a victim.
But a force—untamed, divine, terrifying.
And in that moment, something invisible bound itself tighter between them.
Magic.
Or something dangerously close to love.
---
But far in the woods, hidden in shadow, something else was watching.
A hooded figure with glowing red eyes held a second Book of Moonborn.
On the page where Aria's name had been written—
Blood now smeared across it.
And Kael's name was slowly being crossed out.