The midnight bell still echoed when a chill slid through the mist.
Ren shivered, looking down from the rooftop. The campus below was empty, yet the air felt wrong—too still, too heavy.
Li Wei's head tilted. In the reflection of his eyes the faint silver lines of a charm flickered, moving fast across the courtyard like a spark of lightning.
"Stay close to me," he said, tone dropping low.
Ren barely had time to ask why before a sharp whine cut the air. Something flashed upward—steel laced with symbols—and grazed his arm. The sting was instant, burning through flesh as if the blade carried fire.
He gasped and staggered. Blood dotted the concrete, dark against the rain.
From the shadows at the stairwell, the exorcist stepped forward, robes plastered to his skin by the storm. "You should have listened, boy. That mark will drag you under. I can end it before it devours you."
Li Wei's form blurred, gold in his eyes turning feral. "You dare touch him?"
The exorcist lifted the blade again, chanting under his breath. Every word made the snake-shaped mark on Ren's shoulder throb hotter.
"Stop it!" Ren cried, clutching his arm.
Li Wei's answer was a snarl that shook the air. Wind surged around him, swirling dust and rain into a spiral. For a heartbeat, Ren saw something vast beneath the illusion of the man—scales, lightning, a force coiled and ready to strike.
The ground trembled. Tiles cracked under Li Wei's power. The exorcist stumbled back, barely shielding himself with a charm that shattered on impact.
Li Wei caught Ren before he could fall, voice rough with control. "Breathe. I have you."
The world steadied only after the storm of energy faded. Ren's blood still ran, but the cut had sealed, faint golden light weaving over the wound.
The exorcist vanished into the mist, leaving behind only the smell of burnt ozone and the whisper of a vow:
"This isn't over."
Ren looked up at Li Wei—his protector, his danger—and saw fear and fury fighting behind those golden eyes.
"I told you," Li Wei murmured, brushing rain from his face. "I'll never let them take you from me again."
Ren wanted to ask what he meant by again, but exhaustion won. The lights below flickered, and he leaned into the warmth of Li Wei's hand, the bond between them pulsing steady and alive.