Azraeth's POV
Angels rain from the sky like falling stars.
"Get down!" I shout, throwing shadows up as a shield. Golden magic slams into it, cracking but holding.
Mireya stumbles beside me. Through the bond, I feel her terror. She's exhausted, overwhelmed, barely standing.
"Mordaine!" I roar. "Get her out of here!"
"I'm not leaving!" Mireya's hands ignite with black fire. "I can fight!"
"You'll die!" Another angel attack hits my shield. It shatters. I rebuild it instantly, but I'm running out of power. Five hundred years of imprisonment left me weak. The curse is still eating at me from the inside.
Helena grabs her daughter's arm. "Mireya, listen to him—"
"No!" Mireya pulls free. "I'm done running. I'm done being weak!"
She throws her black fire at the nearest angel. It hits him square in the chest. He falls, screaming.
Pride and fear war inside me. She's brave. Stupid, but brave.
More angels dive. Twenty, thirty, fifty. Too many.
Kael appears beside me in a burst of red smoke. "We need to retreat. Now."
"I don't take orders from traitors."
"Then die, brother. See if I care." But he starts throwing red fire at the angels anyway, covering our position.
Seraphina lands fifty feet away, her sword blazing. "Surrender the Dragon-Keeper and I'll let the rest of you live!"
"Liar!" Mordaine roars, launching himself at her. Dragon and angel collide mid-air in an explosion of fire and light.
I make a split-second decision. We can't win this fight. Not here. Not now.
I grab Mireya's wrist. "Hold on."
"What are you—"
I pull power from the soul bond—her power mixed with mine. It hurts us both, but it gives me enough strength. Shadows explode around us.
"No!" Helena screams. "Take me too!"
But it's too late. The world dissolves into darkness.
We teleport.
We crash into solid ground. Mireya collapses, gasping. I fall beside her, my chest burning where the soul mark is draining me.
"Where..." she coughs. "Where are we?"
I force myself to look around. Stone walls. Broken windows. Dawn light streaming through holes in the ceiling.
"The cathedral," I rasp. "The safe house I used before."
"You left my mother behind!" She tries to stand but her legs won't hold her. "And Mordaine—"
"Can handle himself. He's fought angels before." I pull myself up, leaning against the wall. "Your mother chose to stay. To buy us time."
Through the bond, I feel Mireya's guilt and anger. She wants to go back. Wants to save everyone.
But she's smart enough to know we'd just die.
"Why?" she whispers. "Why do they hate us so much? What did we do?"
I slide down to sit beside her. The mark on my chest throbs. Through the bond, I feel her exhaustion matching mine.
"You want to know about Morwenna," I say quietly.
She looks at me with those brown eyes that are so different from Morwenna's green ones. "Tell me."
So I do.
"Five hundred years ago, I ruled the demon realm. I was powerful, ruthless, and alone." The memories hurt, but I push through. "Then I met her. A witch named Morwenna who had the soul mark. The moment we touched, the bond formed."
"Like us," Mireya says softly.
"Like us." I touch the mark on my chest. "She was everything I wasn't—kind, hopeful, certain we could bring peace between demons, angels, and humans. I thought she was naive. But she made me believe it too."
"What happened?"
"We tried to create an alliance. Demons and humans working together. The angels saw it as a threat." My voice hardens. "They said we were too dangerous. That bonded souls would overthrow their rule. So they decided to destroy us."
Through the bond, Mireya feels my old pain. It's so deep, so raw, even after five centuries.
"Kael led them to her," I continue. "My own brother. He told them where Morwenna would be, when she'd be vulnerable." My hands clench into fists. "Seraphina came personally. She made me watch as she drove her sword through Morwenna's heart."
Mireya's hand finds mine. Through the bond, I feel her compassion.
"Morwenna used her last breath to cast a reincarnation spell. She promised her soul would return." I finally look at Mireya. "Then the angels imprisoned me. Five hundred years of torture, designed to break my mind. And every day, I wondered if Morwenna's spell had worked. If her soul was out there somewhere. If I'd ever find her again."
"And then I summoned you," Mireya says.
"And then you summoned me." I study her face. "You're not her. Your soul is hers, but you're different. Angrier. More broken. More real."
"Is that good or bad?"
"Good." I squeeze her hand. "Morwenna wanted to save everyone. You just want to survive. That makes you stronger."
She leans her head against my shoulder. Through the bond, I feel her processing everything—the betrayal, the history, the weight of being someone's reincarnation.
"I'm not her," she says firmly. "I'm me. Mireya. Not some witch from five hundred years ago."
"I know." And I do. This girl beside me is her own person. That's what makes her perfect.
We sit in silence for a moment. Then Mireya asks the question I've been dreading.
"The curse. How long do you really have?"
I don't want to lie. "Weeks. Maybe days. The bond is helping, but it's not complete. Until we do the full ritual—"
"Then let's do it." She sits up, looking at me with determined eyes. "Right now. Complete the bond and break the curse."
"It's not that simple. The ritual requires—"
The cathedral doors explode inward.
We both jump up, ready to fight.
But it's not angels.
It's Lilith. And she's not alone.
Behind her stand dozens of witches, all wearing the purple robes of her coven. And at her side, bloodied and chained, is my mother.
No. Helena.
"Hello again," Lilith purrs. "Miss me?" She yanks Helena's chains, making her stumble. "I believe this belongs to you."
Through the bond, I feel Mireya's rage explode.
"Let her go!" Mireya's hands burst into black flames.
"Gladly. After you come with me." Lilith's smile is cruel. "You see, that little contract I had on you? Breaking it made me very angry. So now I'm taking payment another way."
"What do you want?" I growl.
"Simple." Lilith pulls out a knife and holds it to Helena's throat. "The Dragon-Keeper comes with me peacefully, or her mother dies. Choose quickly, dear. My hand gets shaky when I'm bored."
Mireya looks at me, her eyes wide with panic.
Through the bond, I know what she's thinking. She'll trade herself. She'll sacrifice herself to save Helena.
"Don't," I warn through the bond. "It's a trap."
"I don't care. She's my mother."
"Tick tock," Lilith sings. The knife draws a thin line of blood on Helena's neck.
"Stop!" Mireya steps forward. "I'll go with you. Just don't hurt her."
"Mireya, no!" Helena cries.
But Mireya keeps walking toward Lilith, her hands raised in surrender.
And that's when I see it.
In the shadows behind Lilith's witches, something moves.
Red eyes gleaming in the darkness.
Kael.