Chapter One: The Edge of Rules
The rain had started again.
Kaelira pulled her coat tighter as she stepped off the late bus, her heels clicking against the wet
pavement. The city around her was alive neon lights reflecting off puddles, the hum of distant traffic,
tired office workers brushing past with umbrellas and paper bags.
She didn't mind the rain.
It made it easier to disappear.
She had just finished another long shift at the cafe brewing espresso, wiping tables, pretending to be
normal. Pretending to be one of them.
Living like a mortal was part of the punishment.
No magic. No miracles. No interference.
She was a shell of who she used to be a celestial being bound by mortal skin, stripped of everything but
memory. The only thing left was the mark on her wrist a faint glow beneath the surface, like a scar that
refused to heal.
Kaelira turned down a side street, shortcutting through an alley she'd walked a hundred times. But
tonight felt off.
That's when she saw them.
Three figures. Male. Moving fast. Sharp voices. One man alone walking ahead, unaware.
She slowed. Watched. Listened.
The man was about to be ambushed.
She froze.
Her heart beat faster not from fear, but from the cruel twist of fate. This wasn't the first time she'd seen
something like this.
And every time, she walked away. That was the rule.
Do not interfere.
But tonight was different.
She didn't know why.
Maybe it was the exhaustion in the man's shoulders. The way he didn't speed up, even when danger
pressed behind him. Or maybe it was the deep ache in her own chest the ache she'd buried for years.
Kaelira took a step forward.
"No," she whispered to herself.
She turned to leave.
Then the first attacker reached for something in his jacket and that was it.
Kaelira moved.
The air around her crackled faintly as she peeled back the layer of illusion she always wore not all of it,
just enough. Enough to slow the moment. Enough to stop the blade.
The man turned. Blinked. Confused.
The attackers froze for half a second then stumbled back, eyes clouded like they'd forgotten why they
were there. One muttered something about the wrong guy. Then they disappeared into the night.
The man stayed rooted in place.
Kaelira tightened her coat and stepped back into shadow, ready to vanish. The veil over her should've
held. Humans never noticed her.
But then he looked at her. Right at her.
She stopped.
He took a step forward, water dripping from his hair, lips slightly parted.
"Did you… just do something?"
Her heart dropped.
No mortal should have been able to see her break the veil.
He shouldn't be looking at her like that. Curious. Soft. Alive.
The mark on her wrist burned a searing warning from powers far above.
Kaelira swallowed hard. Then she spoke softly, like the words tasted forbidden. You weren't supposed to see this.