The air in the archive room became instantly charged. The brittle purple of The Collector's aura pulsed with avarice and smugness, overwhelming Ezzy's weak, corporate-gray camouflage.
The Collector was a man in his fifties, impeccably dressed, radiating the overpowering aura of entitlement—a rich, sickening shade of deep copper. He stood between them and the exit, a small, silver containment orb already humming in his hand.
"Caspian, my old friend," The Collector purred, his voice echoing in the stone room. "I warned you that sentimentality would be your undoing. The moment you let this little flame attach herself to your shadow, you painted a target on your back."
"The target is on yours, Collector," Caspian's voice was a cold, dangerous rumble. He positioned himself slightly in front of Ezzy, the shadow-essence within her responding by pushing her toward him, a primal, defensive lock.
"I believe the book calls this the 'Heroic Stand,'" The Collector sneered, glancing at his phone—confirming he was also tracking the viral novel. "But I'm here for two prizes: your essence, now perfectly stabilized by the girl's light, and that magnificent Heart-Aura Compass."
He lunged, not toward Caspian, but straight for the wooden display case holding the sunken gold artifact.
Ezzy reacted first.
"Drama. Now!" she screamed psychically through the bond.
She didn't block him; she pulled at the raw emotional energy of the room itself—the massive, latent aura of global financial anxiety clinging to the building's core. It was too vast for her to wield normally, but the shadow-shard inside her gave her the necessary leverage.
Ezzy spun the anxiety and fear into a high-pitched, piercing shriek of emotional chaos, directing it right at The Collector.
He stumbled, his brittle purple aura flashing violently as the wave of psychic noise hit him. "A distraction!" he roared.
Caspian seized the moment. "Give them the Urban Fury!"
He grabbed Ezzy, spinning her around and slamming her against a row of filing cabinets. It was brutal, possessive, and perfectly choreographed. He shielded her body with his own, but his true purpose was to establish the maximum possible contact.
He plunged his focus into the shared bond, demanding her deepest, most furious feelings. Ezzy responded, pouring her terror and desperate survival instinct into the connection. They weren't performing a staged argument; they were generating a massive, chaotic surge of authentic, raw fury and need.
The psychic blast hit The Collector like a physical punch. He staggered back, reeling from the sudden, overwhelming intensity of the manufactured "lovers' fight." The emotion was too real, too massive—it felt like a genuine, catastrophic relationship collapse, and The Collector's specialized palate couldn't handle it.
"You're overloading the signal!" he choked out, clutching his head. "The book… the energy is too messy!"
"Messy is urban love, Thief!" Ezzy yelled, playing the part. She reached out and—fueled by the immense power running through her—snatched the Heart-Aura Compass from the display case.
The moment the gold artifact touched her hand, the chaos stabilized. The compass instantly absorbed the psychic storm, humming with a clean, deep tone. A protective layer of sunken gold energy wrapped around Ezzy and Caspian, shielding them both.
Caspian looked down at her, the mask of the ruthless predator slipping. He saw the pure, terrifying power she now wielded—his shadow and the ancient artifact, united in her grasp.
"We have to move," he commanded, pulling her toward a ventilation shaft. "The security alarms will activate now that the artifact is gone."
As they scrambled into the shaft, The Collector regained his composure. He looked at the empty display case and then at the phone in his hand, which was frantically buzzing with updates.
A new chapter of The Heart-Eater's Echo was already being posted. The Watcher had captured the entire confrontation in real-time, labeling the moment Ezzy took the artifact:
"Chapter 9: The Golden Confession—She Takes the Key, and Holds His Heart."
The Collector screamed in frustration, realizing the truth: their dramatic chaos had been a perfect, viral cover for the actual theft.
"I will find you, Caspian!" The Collector shrieked, his voice echoing in the empty archive room. "I will find the author who is broadcasting your weakness!"
Ezzy and Caspian were already scrambling into the darkness, the rough metal of the ventilation shaft grating beneath them.
"We have the key," Ezzy gasped, holding the humming gold compass tight.
"And we have a new enemy," Caspian replied, his voice flat. "The Watcher is faster, smarter, and knows the only way to beat us is to turn our romance into a spectacular, viral tragedy. They have us exactly where they want us."
The compass was secured, but The Watcher was broadcasting their every move, using the 'viral romance' to lure Caspian back to his exile. Now, they had to go off-grid, and the only place to hide was a space where the shadow and the light could finally merge.