The next morning broke like a blade sharp, unrelenting. The city of Veins stirred to life beneath a pale sky veined with golden light, but the warmth didn't reach Selene's chest. Not when she felt the echo of last night vibrating like a spell unfinished.
Liora had fallen asleep curled against her, legs tangled beneath the twisted rooftop sheets. Selene, meanwhile, lay awake watching the morning stretch across her skin. She memorized the way Liora's lips parted in sleep, how her fingers twitched as if chasing dreams. A goddess, Selene thought, carved from rebellion and starlight.
She wanted to freeze time.
But the sigil on her wrist still pulsed no longer hot, but insistent. A warning.
She slipped away quietly, leaving only a soft kiss on Liora's shoulder.
Down below, the streets buzzed with whispers. Someone had defaced the Gate of Thorns the city's ancient protectorate crest, drawn in blood and bone magic. Painted over it was a crude symbol: two crescents overlapping, the mark of the *Bloodbound Rebellion*.
Selene pulled up her hood and vanished into the crowd. Her contact was late. Again.
She reached the back alley of the Dust Market, where the scent of fireroot and iron filled the air. Leaning against a wall, arms crossed, was Nyra—a rogue healer with sharp teeth and no patience.
"You're glowing," Nyra said, eyeing Selene's wrist. "Not in a cute way."
"They're close. I need to know how close."
Nyra held out a rusted blade. "Blood knows."
Selene pricked her palm without hesitation. Nyra collected the drop into a vial, shook it with powdered onyx, and poured it onto the dirt. The blood shimmered then formed a map of the city, pulsing at one location: *The Tethered Hollow*, where the Bloodbound once trained.
"They've been waiting for you," Nyra said. "And they've marked your little girlfriend too."
Selene's jaw clenched. "She's not involved."
Nyra snorted. "She's involved *now*. You broke the one rule, didn't you? Don't fall in love with anyone you're willing to die for."
Selene didn't answer.
Back at the sanctuary, Liora stirred. She stretched lazily, then frowned at the cold space beside her. Selene was gone. Again.
She padded barefoot into the studio where dried herbs hung from the beams and journals lay scattered. She found Selene's coat, still damp from rooftop dew. But what drew her attention was the scroll peeking out of the inner pocket.
Unrolling it, her heart stopped.
A detailed sketch of her own face. Marked in red.
*"TARGET: High-Value Leverage."*
And below it—Selene's own handwriting.
*"Keep her safe at all costs."*
The air left Liora's lungs. Was this why Selene kept running off? To protect her… or to *use* her?
***
Night fell with rain.
Selene stood in front of the Tethered Hollow, the ancient training ground of her former rebellion. Its stone walls were cracked, choked with vines—but the power inside still pulsed. She stepped into the darkness, blade drawn.
The shadows moved.
From them emerged Astra…Selene's former second-in-command. Eyes like flint, voice like thunder.
"You're late."
Selene smirked. "You sent assassins after me. I assumed we weren't on speaking terms."
Astra circled her, slow and deliberate. "You abandoned the cause. For *her*. A moonwitch."
"She's not what you think."
"She's *exactly* what I think. A key. A threat. And you're too love-drunk to see it."
Selene's blade slid back into its sheath. "I see it. And I'd still choose her."
Astra's mouth twisted. "Then bleed for her."
With a gesture, the floor lit up in glyphs. Selene barely had time to brace herself before a magical current slammed into her, sending her crashing into the stone wall.
But she didn't scream.
She stood.
And as blood dripped from her temple, she whispered, "You want a war? I'll bring one."
Across the city, Liora packed her bag. If Selene wouldn't explain, she'd find her own answers. Her own power. She had been kept in the dark long enough.
And the moon above watched quietly, knowing that before this story ended, it would shine red with betrayal.
The rain intensified, sheets of water lashing against the stone as Selene emerged from the Tethered Hollow. Her clothes clung to her like regret, blood mixing with the rain. She staggered down the alley, but her mind was elsewhere on Liora. On the mark. On Astra's final words.
*"If you won't give her up, the city will take her from you."*
Selene's stomach twisted.
She needed to get to Liora—*now*.
Liora moved quickly through the night streets, cloaked in a deep crimson shawl. She'd spent her life mastering herbs and energy, not violence but her hands didn't tremble as she approached the Moonfire Temple.
She knew what she needed: truth. Power. And if Selene wouldn't give it willingly, she'd take it from the source.
Inside, she placed her palms on the cold moonstone altar. The priestess raised an eyebrow but said nothing just nodded once and began the chant.
A beam of pale light surged upward, bathing Liora in radiance. Symbols danced across her arms, ancient and glowing.
Then… she saw it.
A vision.
Selene on her knees, surrounded by shadows, her lips moving in a vow of sacrifice.
Astra ripping power from a dying elder, her laughter echoing like thunder.
And herself *burning*, brilliant, terrible and beautiful, standing between both with blood on her hands.
Liora gasped, falling back. The power receded, but not before marking her. On her collarbone now shimmered a sigil she'd never seen before half sun, half moon. Binding her to fate. Binding her to Selene.
She stood, breathless. "What the hell are we caught in?"
At that moment, Selene burst through the sanctuary doors, soaked and wide-eyed.
Liora turned slowly, heart pounding.
They stood in silence.
Then Selene whispered, "They know who you are."
Liora didn't flinch. "So do I."
Selene stepped closer, voice breaking. "I tried to protect you."
"And now?" Liora asked, softly.
Selene raised her hand. A faint glow her blood magic, weakened but still alive. "Now I fight beside you."
Their fingers found each other in the space between fear and forgiveness.
But outside, the sigils across the city lit up in unison.
War had begun.