Kael couldn't breathe.
Every step away from Riven felt like walking barefoot across broken glass. His chest was tight, his jaw locked, but he kept moving—through the campus, past the library, into the maze of streets that always smelled faintly of rain and coffee.
Students laughed nearby, their voices faded away in silence. Couples leaned close, whispering things Kael couldn't hear. All of it felt like another world. A world he didn't belong to anymore.
Because in his world, trust had just shattered.
He replayed it over and over.
Riven—no, whoever the hell he really was—standing there, cold as steel, admitting that his name, his past, everything was a cover, all fake.
"My mission was you"
Kael's stomach twisted.
So what was he, then? A target? A pawn? Some prize that everyone wanted a piece of?
The way the woman had looked at him—it wasn't just random. She had said they wanted him. That Riven was supposed to deliver him.
Kael clenched his fists. "So what am I? A package to be shipped off? A weapon? A key?"
The questions spun, relentless.
And underneath the anger, something worse burned.
The memory of Riven's voice, softer than Kael had ever heard it. "I already had the chance. And I didn't."
It should have meant something. It should have soothed him. But all it did was hurt more. Because if Riven had the chance to kill him, that meant he had been considering it.
Kael pushed himself into the silence of an empty lecture hall and sat hard on the back row seat. His head fell into his hands.
For a long moment, he just sat there, his mind was in a storm.
Then—like a crack in the dam—something slipped through.
Not a memory, exactly. A flash.
He saw himself, but not here. Not in the safe dull glow of university walls.
Instead:
A dim bunker.
Maps scattered on the table.
His hands shaking as he loaded a gun.
And across from him—Riven. Or the man who looked like him.
But this Riven was different. Harder. Wounded. His hand had gripped Kael's wrist and pulled it still.
"You're not ready for this," the other Riven had said.
Kael's chest ached. The scene was gone as quickly as it came, leaving him gasping.
He pressed a palm to his forehead. "What the hell is happening to me?"
The door creaked. Kael snapped his head up.
Jordan stood there, arms crossed, eyebrows raised. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
Kael laughed bitterly. "Something like that."
Jordan walked in, sitting on the desk in front of him. "So. What's with you and Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Deadly? You two have been… strange lately."
Kael's throat tightened. "You don't know the half of it."
"Then tell me." Jordan's eyes softened. "Kael, I've known you long enough. You keep things bottled up until they eat you alive. Just spit it out."
Kael hesitated. But the words poured out before he could stop them.
"He lied to me, Jordan. About everything. His name, his past, why he's here. And I think…" Kael swallowed hard. "I think I was just part of his mission."
Jordan blinked, stunned. "Mission? What the hell are you talking about? He's a student like us."
Kael shook his head. "No. He's not. He's something else. And now there are people watching us. People who want me for some reason I don't even understand."
Jordan stared, the weight of Kael's words sinking in. Then he exhaled. "Damn."
Kael rubbed his temples. "I don't know what's real anymore."
The door creaked again.
Kael's head shot up. Jordan turned.
Someone stood in the doorway. Not a student.
Lucian.
His presence filled the room like smoke, cold and suffocating. The gray coat, the sharp eyes that seemed to cut straight through Kael. The professor who kept the history with him.
Kael's blood ran cold.
"You," he breathed.
Lucian's lips curled into a faint smile. "Me."
Jordan bristled, standing quickly. "Why the hell are you here?"
Lucian didn't even look at him. His eyes stayed on Kael. "I've been waiting for this moment. Just you and me. No masks. No Riven between us."
Kael's pulse hammered. "What do you want from me?"
Lucian stepped closer, slow and deliberate, like a predator. "What I've always wanted. The truth. And you, Kael… you're the key to it."
Kael's breath hitched. "The cloaked woman—she said the same thing. Why? Why me?"
Lucian's smile deepened. "Because you're not who you think you are. And deep down, you've already started to remember."
Kael froze.
The flash in the bunker. The feeling of déjà vu when he touched that old photograph. The way his chest ached around Riven, like they'd done this dance before.
"No," Kael said sharply. "You're messing with me. Twisting things."
Lucian tilted his head. "Am I? Tell me, Kael—when you look at Riven, do you feel like you've known him longer than a few months?"
Kael's heart stopped.
Lucian chuckled, soft and low. "That's not new. That's memory. And you can thank me for telling you the truth, because Riven never will."
Jordan finally snapped. "That's enough."
Lucian's eyes flicked toward him, unimpressed. "Riven won't save you from what's coming."
His gaze returned to Kael. "You can't trust him. He was sent to deliver you, like cargo. Everything he's shown you is a mask."
Kael wanted to scream at him, to deny it. But the problem was—he wasn't sure anymore.
Lucian seemed to sense it. He leaned in just close enough for Kael to hear his whisper.
"You'll see soon. When the rest of your memories come back, you'll understand exactly why you should have chosen me over him."
And then, just like any other normal professor holding the file and presentation notes for the next class, Lucian was gone while fixing his glasses through the corridore. Everything became extremely normal around him.
The door slammed shut behind him, leaving only silence.
Kael's hands trembled. He pressed them into his knees, trying to make himself steady.
Jordan crouched in front of him, his face tight with worry. "Kael… what the hell was that?"
Kael shook his head, voice hollow. "If he's right…" His throat closed. "Then Riven's not just lying. He's hiding something that could destroy both of us."
He stared at the floor, the pieces of his world falling apart.
Kael wasn't sure if he was angrier at Riven—
—or at himself for still wanting to believe in him.