The morning was too bright.
The kind of light that stripped shadows bare.
Riven hated mornings.
He sat on the stairs outside the library, his eyes scanning the campus. Students moved about, laughing, carrying books, yawning at the day. Ordinary. Carefree.
But in the far corner, between the stone pillars, the cloaked figure lingered—still, watchful. Like a stain that didn't belong in this world.
Kael dropped beside him, a coffee in hand. "You look like you didn't sleep," he said casually.
Riven didn't answer. His gaze was fixed.
Kael followed his line of sight and spotted the figure. His expression shifted, turning sharp. "Them again."
Before Riven could stop him, Kael stood, striding across the ground. The figure didn't move. Just waited. Like they wanted this.
Riven's gut twisted. Too open. Too deliberate. He was on his feet in a heartbeat.
Kael stopped just a few feet from the figure.
"Are you following us?" His voice carried across.
The cloaked figure tilted their head, slow and deliberate. A gloved hand rose, pulling back the hood.
A woman's face appeared—sharper than glass, eyes dark as midnight. Not old, not young. Ageless.
"Kael," she said softly, as if the name was sacred.
Riven's steps faltered. His stomach dropped.
Because he knew that voice.
Kael frowned. "Do I… know you?"
The woman's eyes flicked past him, locking onto Riven. And in that instant, Riven felt the weight of years collapse in on him. Memories he had buried clawed their way to the surface.
She said a name. Not Riven. Not the mask he wore.
His true name. The one no one here should know.
The sound of it hit him like a blade.
Kael froze, glancing back at Riven. "What… did she just call you?"
The world spun. His pulse thundered in his ears. Students kept moving around them, oblivious, as if the world hadn't just cracked open.
Riven's mouth was dry. He couldn't form words.
Kael stepped closer to him, confusion and hurt flickering in his eyes. "Riven. Or whoever you are. Tell me she's lying."
The woman's smile was thin. "He won't. He can't. Because everything you think you know about him is an illusion."
Riven's fists clenched. "Enough." His voice was low, dangerous.
But Kael wouldn't let go. "What is she talking about? Who are you?"
Silence stretched between them like a wire ready to snap.
Finally, Riven spoke, his voice steady but hollow.
"I wasn't supposed to exist here."
Kael stared, waiting.
Riven exhaled. "The name you know—Riven—it isn't mine. It's a cover. I was placed here, long before you ever arrived. Watching. Waiting. My mission was you."
Kael blinked. "Me?"
His world collapsed.
Kael laughed once, sharp and bitter. "So what—you've been spying on me this whole time? Pretending to be my friend?"
Riven flinched, though his face stayed cold.
Kael shook his head. "The late-night talks, the jacket, the way you…—" He cut himself off, jaw tightening. "Was all of it just part of the mission?"
The words hit harder than bullets.
"No," Riven said, voice raw. "Not all of it."
Kael's expression darkened. "Then which parts were real?"
Riven couldn't answer. Because he didn't know how to untangle the mission from the feelings that had taken root without his permission.
The cloaked woman watched them, satisfied.
"You see now," she murmured. "He's been living a lie. But you, Kael… you're more important than you realize. They've always wanted you. And he was sent to deliver you."
Kael turned back to Riven, disbelief in his eyes. "Is it true?"
Riven's silence was confirmation enough.
The woman took a step closer, lowering her voice. "They'll come for you soon. Lucian, the others. But not if you come with me."
Her hand reached out toward Kael.
Riven moved instantly, shoving Kael behind him, his gun drawn in one smooth motion. The time froze—the normal chatter of students still carrying on, but for the three of them, time had narrowed to a razor's edge.
"Stay away from him," Riven growled.
The woman didn't flinch. "Still protecting him? Even now? Tell me, soldier—are you loyal to your orders, or to your heart?"
Kael's voice cracked through the tension.
"Riven… or whatever your name is… answer me this: if they told you to kill me right now, would you?"
The question cut him open.
Riven lowered his gun slightly, his throat tight. His voice, when it came, was almost a whisper.
"I already had the chance. And I didn't."
Kael's breath caught. The woman's smile sharpened.
"That's your weakness," she said. "And it will be his undoing."
Before Riven could react, she melted back into the crowd, vanishing as if she'd never been there.
The silence between them was heavier than the gun in Riven's hand.
Kael looked at him—hurt, betrayal, and something else flickering beneath. "You should have told me."
Riven's shoulders sagged, for once looking less like a soldier and more like a man who was tired. "I couldn't. If you knew, you'd be in more danger."
Kael laughed bitterly. "And what—this way I'm safe? Look around, Riven. They already want me dead."
Riven reached for him, but Kael stepped back. "I don't know if I can trust you."
The words were knives, but Riven didn't stop him as he walked away.
Because deep down, he didn't know if he could trust himself either.
Later that night, alone in his room, Riven stared at the small mirror above his desk.
He whispered the name the woman had spoken. His real name. The one he had sworn never to say again.
The reflection stared back, empty.
And in the silence, his phone buzzed with a single message from an unknown number:
"Umbra knows who you are. Run."