Jayden should not have been in the Moon Archives.
Firstly, because it was strictly off-limits to anyone under seventeen without magical clearance and a royal sigil. Secondly, because he was definitely under seventeen, had zero clearance, and the last time he tried to forge Leonora's signature, the scroll set itself on fire and insulted his handwriting.
But here he was, at midnight, barefoot, heart pounding, and following Aerin—who, unlike him, was walking with the confidence of someone who absolutely lived for rule-breaking.
"Are you sure this is safe?" he whispered.
"Nope," Aerin said cheerfully, holding a stolen moonstone torch in one hand and a chocolate croissant in the other. "But what's life without a few illegal midnight discoveries?"
Jayden sighed. "What are we even looking for?"
"The Moon-Blood Ledger," she said, through a mouthful of pastry. "It's got records of every person ever marked by lunar magic. If you really are the Second Heart, your name will be in it."
They crept down the spiraling marble steps into the sub-archives, where the air grew colder and the silence thicker. Shelves stretched up into darkness, lined with scrolls, relics, and glowing crystals that pulsed like sleeping stars.
Jayden stepped carefully over a silver runic trap etched on the floor. "This place is insane."
"It's where the royal family keeps the secrets they're too scared to destroy," Aerin said, eyes gleaming. "Or too arrogant to admit they don't understand."
They reached the central archive vault, an enormous domed chamber with a silver pedestal in the center. Suspended above it, spinning slowly, was the Moon-Blood Ledger—a floating tome bound in lunar silk, whispering as its pages turned themselves.
"Whoa," Jayden breathed.
Aerin wiped chocolate off her fingers. "Go on. Touch it."
Jayden hesitated. Then stepped forward and placed his hand on the cover.
The whispers stopped.
Then, with a soft shhhhk, the pages turned faster—spinning through centuries of names, bloodlines, spells, even sketches—until they abruptly halted.
There.
One page glowed.
Jayden's name was written in silver flame:
Jayden, Child of the Veil's Gate.
Born without sigil or spell.Carrier of the Second Heart.Bound by shadow. Called by the Moon.
Underneath was a line scratched in violently, like someone had tried to erase it.
Parentage: Confidential. Location: Forbidden.
Jayden's pulse spiked.
"What does that mean?" he whispered.
Before Aerin could answer, the torchlight flickered—and the air behind them shifted.
"Jayden," said a voice.
Jayden spun.
Thalen stood in the doorway, moonlight dripping from his cloak, eyes glowing faintly.
"You weren't supposed to see that," he said.
Jayden backed away. "You're working with the Shadowborn. You tried to hurt me."
Thalen's jaw tightened. "If I wanted to hurt you, you'd already be gone."
Reassuring.
Aerin stepped between them. "One more step and I scream so loud every spectral guard in the kingdom shows up."
Thalen raised his hands slowly. "I'm not here to fight."
"Could've fooled me," Jayden snapped.
Thalen looked at him—really looked at him—and for a second, Jayden saw something crack in his older brother's perfect, royal exterior.
Fear.
"You don't understand what's coming," Thalen said. "The Shadowborn… they're not just monsters. They were royal once. They were family."
Jayden froze.
"What?"
Thalen's voice dropped. "The royal bloodline isn't clean. Centuries ago, a High Prince made a pact with the Moon's shadow. To protect the realm. It worked. Until it didn't. That magic's still in our blood. In your blood."
He stepped closer.
"You weren't adopted by accident, Jayden. You were chosen. Placed here. You're the counterweight. The Second Heart wasn't meant to protect the world."
He paused.
"It was meant to stop me."
Jayden couldn't breathe.
"That prophecy—" he said, "the one Eryndor showed me…"
Thalen nodded. "One heir will burn. One will betray."
Jayden's voice was a whisper. "Which one are you?"
Thalen didn't answer.
But his eyes—silver and sad—said enough.
"I'll hold them off," he said, stepping back into the shadows. "But you need to find the Mirror Vault. That's where the truth is buried. The rest of the prophecy. The names. Your parents."
Then he vanished.
Just like that.
Gone.
Jayden stood frozen, heart hammering.
Aerin let out a long, low breath.
"Well," she said. "That wasn't suspicious or horrifying at all."
Jayden swallowed. "The Mirror Vault."
"Sounds cursed."
"Definitely."
They looked at each other.
And started running.
Jayden and Aerin sprinted through the winding corridors of the Moon Archives, hearts pounding, breath ragged. Somewhere behind them, the echoes of ancient magic stirred—as if the temple itself had woken up to what they'd seen.
They didn't speak. Not yet. Not until they were far away from the silver pedestal, the Ledger, and Thalen's haunting words.
At last, they collapsed behind a cluster of carved moonstone pillars near the Hall of Silent Rites. Only then did Jayden finally exhale the breath he didn't know he'd been holding.
"He knew," Jayden said, voice raw. "About me. About all of this. He's been lying this whole time."
Aerin nodded slowly. "They all have."
Jayden pressed a hand to his chest. The silver flame inside him was awake again—no longer wild, but watching. Waiting.
"The Mirror Vault," he murmured. "That's where it ends."
Aerin looked at him. "Or where it starts."
Somewhere above them, the temple's great bells began to toll, slow and distant.
Midnight was over.
And dawn was coming.