The tests began at dawn.
Seren's laboratory wasn't like the rest of the Academy it was colder, carved deep beneath the citadel, walls lined with runes that breathed faint silver light.
It smelled of metal, ink, and something ancient.
He stood at the center, coat unbuttoned, gloves gleaming faintly with enchantment. "Sit," he said, motioning toward a circle of light inscribed on the floor.
I glanced at Aster, who stood near the wall, arms crossed, his expression unreadable.
"Is this necessary?" I asked.
"Everything is necessary when the gods start whispering," Seren replied. "I need to understand what anchors the Black Sun's energy to your vessel. Consider this… a study in survival."
He pressed a rune. Light flared.
The sigils beneath me pulsed and suddenly, every nerve in my body lit up. My pulse stuttered, power rushing out of me like breath escaping through cracks.
I gasped, clutching my chest. "Stop"
Seren's voice was calm. "Breathe. The circle amplifies resonance. The more you resist, the stronger it becomes."
Aster took a step forward. "He's in pain."
Seren didn't look up. "Pain is a kind of truth."
The bond surged heat and light threading between me and Aster, pulsing faster the more I struggled.
And then, I felt him not beside me, but inside me his heartbeat pounding against mine, his rage like thunder under my skin.
Aster's eyes widened. "Seren the bond is reacting!"
Seren's head tilted, fascinated. "So emotion triggers synchronization. Fear, anger… maybe more."
The last word lingered in the air.
Maybe more.
The circle flared again. My body jerked, and the mark on my chest blazed to life black and gold both, swirling like twin storms.
Aster didn't hesitate. He crossed the room, stepped into the circle, and grabbed my shoulders.
The moment his skin touched mine, everything exploded.
Light. Heat. Sound.
The world fell away.
Suddenly, we weren't in the lab anymore.
We were standing in a void endless sky, burning stars above us, the same place where our souls had touched before.
Except this time, it was stronger.
The bond thrummed like a heartbeat shared between two bodies.
Aster's hand tightened against my arm. "You're losing control."
"You shouldn't have come in," I gasped. "You'll burn too."
"I told you before," he said, eyes fierce, "I don't care."
The light coiled around us, circling faster, brighter, until it felt like the world itself might split apart.
I tried to push it back but then I felt his hand on my face, steady, grounding.
"Look at me."
I did.
And the storm slowed.
The light softened, wrapping around us like breath. Our power stilled not gone, but balanced. His aura fed mine; mine steadied his.
The bond sang between us not pain, not fear. Something else.
Something dangerously close to peace.
When the vision faded, we were back in the lab. The circle's light had died, and Seren stood before us, eyes bright with something unreadable.
He exhaled slowly. "Fascinating."
Aster still held me upright, his hand lingering on my back.
Seren's gaze flicked between us sharp, knowing.
"So it reacts to emotion," he said softly. "But not just any emotion."
Aster glared. "Enough."
"Of course," Seren said smoothly. "Though you might want to remember the stronger your connection, the easier it'll be for the Black Sun to consume you both."
He smiled faintly. "Love and ruin, Commander. They've always been the same language."
That night, I couldn't sleep.
Every time I closed my eyes, I felt it the echo of his touch, the heat of his heartbeat merging with mine.
And beneath it all, Seren's words whispered like a curse.
Love and ruin.
The bond pulsed once slow, steady.
I wasn't sure which one I was heading toward.