Elara's POV
I grabbed the journal and ran.
Cassian's scream had come from somewhere below. I flew down the stairs, my heart hammering against my ribs. The manor was dark except for flickering candles that lit themselves as I passed.
"Cassian!" I shouted.
No answer.
I found him in the entrance hall, on his knees, doubled over in pain. Black veins crawled up his neck like poison. His hands clawed at the marble floor.
"What's happening?" I dropped beside him, reaching for his shoulder.
"Don't—" he gasped. "Don't touch me. Not when I'm like this."
"Like what?"
He looked up at me, and I stumbled backward. His eyes were completely black. No gray. No white. Just endless darkness.
"The curse," he ground out through clenched teeth. "It's getting stronger. Earlier than it should."
My mother's words echoed in my head. Ten years before he becomes the very monster he's fighting against.
"You're turning into something," I whispered. "Aren't you?"
The blackness faded from his eyes slowly, like ink washing away. He slumped against the wall, breathing hard. "How did you know?"
I held up the journal. "My mother told me. She left this for me. She said you were dying. That the binding was killing you."
Pain flashed across his face—not physical this time. Emotional. "She wasn't supposed to write that down. She promised."
"So it's true? You've been lying to me?"
"I didn't lie. I just... didn't tell you everything." He pushed himself up slowly, his movements careful like an old man's. "Yes, the binding comes with a cost. All power does. But I knew that when I made the choice."
"What cost exactly?" My voice shook. "Tell me everything. Right now. No more secrets."
Cassian stared at me for a long moment. Then he nodded. "Come with me. I'll show you."
He led me through the manor, down hallways I didn't remember. We passed locked doors and empty rooms and windows that showed impossible views—forests that shouldn't exist, skies with two moons, cities made of crystal.
"What am I seeing?" I asked.
"The Forgotten Realm. It exists alongside our world, separated by a thin barrier. This manor is the anchor point—the only place where both worlds touch." He stopped at a massive wooden door covered in strange symbols. "Your family has guarded this doorway for eight centuries."
"Guarded it from what?"
"From the things inside that want out. And the things outside that want in." He touched the symbols and they glowed silver. "The Forgotten Realm used to be beautiful. A sanctuary for magical beings. But something went wrong three hundred years ago. The magic there started dying, turning dark. Corrupting everything it touched."
The door swung open. Cold air rushed out, smelling like metal and rot.
Beyond the doorway was darkness. Complete and absolute. But things moved in that darkness. I could hear them breathing, scratching, whispering my name.
"Your ancestors decided to seal it," Cassian continued. "Lock away the corruption before it spread to the human world. But the seal required constant power. A guardian bound to the manor, feeding their life force into the barrier."
"And you're the guardian now."
"I am." He closed the door quickly. The whispering stopped. "But your mother was right about the cost. The binding doesn't just trap me here—it slowly transforms me into what I'm protecting against. Every year, I become less human and more... something else."
The black veins on his neck. The darkness in his eyes. The way the shadows obeyed him.
"How long do you have?" I asked quietly.
"Your mother thought ten years total. It's been ten already." He smiled bitterly. "I should be completely gone by now. Turned into a monster. But I'm still here. Still fighting it."
"Why? What's keeping you human?"
He looked at me, and my breath caught at the intensity in his eyes. "You. The thought of seeing you again. Of keeping my promise to protect you. It's the only thing anchoring me."
My throat tightened. "That's not fair. You can't put that on me."
"I'm not. I'm just telling you the truth." He leaned against the wall tiredly. "The binding was supposed to last until you turned twenty-seven and inherited. Then you'd perform your own binding, taking over as guardian, and I'd be released. I'd probably die, but at least I'd die human."
"But?"
"But that's not the only option anymore." He hesitated. "If you choose to bond with me instead of replacing me—if you become my partner rather than my successor—we could share the burden. Split the curse between us. It might save us both."
"Or it might curse us both," I said, remembering my mother's words.
"Yes." He didn't deny it. "It's never been done before. We don't know what would happen."
I wanted to scream. Every choice led to death or worse. "Why didn't my mother just let the realm collapse? Why keep protecting it?"
"Because it's not just darkness in there. There are innocent creatures trapped too. Magical beings who got caught when the corruption spread. Children. Families. Thousands of souls who don't deserve to die." His voice was heavy. "And if the barrier breaks, the corruption floods into our world. Imagine every nightmare, every monster, every dark thing you've ever feared—all of it spilling into London, into cities, into homes. Millions would die."
I sank down onto the floor, my legs giving out. The weight of it all was crushing. My inheritance wasn't just a house. It was responsibility for two entire worlds.
"I can't do this," I whispered. "I'm nobody. I work at a café. I can barely pay rent. How am I supposed to save worlds?"
Cassian sat down beside me, careful not to touch. "Your mother asked the same thing when she inherited. So did her mother before her. Every Thornwood has felt this way." He paused. "But you're not nobody, Elara. You're stronger than you know. I've seen it. Even as a child, you had power in you that terrified the dark mages. That's why they tried to kill you."
"What power? I can't do anything special."
"You can see magical auras. You have prophetic dreams. And according to your mother's research, you have the potential to not just maintain the barrier—but heal it. Reverse the corruption. Save the Forgotten Realm instead of just containing it."
I stared at him. "That's impossible."
"So is a boy becoming an immortal guardian. So is a house that exists in two worlds. So is you sitting here, alive, when you should have died ten years ago." He finally met my eyes. "Impossible is just another word for things we don't understand yet."
Before I could respond, an explosion rocked the manor.
The walls shuddered. Candles went out. Somewhere in the darkness, glass shattered.
Cassian was on his feet instantly, darkness swirling around his hands. "They're attacking. Now. They know you're here."
"Who?"
"Lord Nyx's forces. They've been waiting for you to return." He pulled me up roughly. "We need to get you to the safe room."
Another explosion. Closer this time. The Forgotten Realm's door rattled on its hinges.
"They're trying to break through," Cassian said grimly. "They're going to force open the barrier."
Red light blazed through the windows. I ran to look out and my blood turned to ice.
The grounds were full of figures. Dozens of them. All wearing black robes and carrying torches. Dark mages. Surrounding the manor in a perfect circle.
And standing at the front, smiling up at my window, was a man I recognized from old family photos.
Adrian. My cousin. The one who'd been texting me.
He raised his hand in a mocking wave.
Then he shouted something I couldn't hear, and every single mage threw their torches at the manor.
"No!" I screamed.
Flames erupted across the walls. Just like ten years ago. Just like the fire that killed my parents.
Cassian grabbed my arm, his face pale. "Elara, I need you to listen very carefully. What I'm about to tell you will change everything."
"What?"
"That fire ten years ago? The one that killed your parents?" His voice was tight with fury. "Adrian set it. He's been working for Nyx since he was a teenager. He killed your parents. And now he's come to finish what he started."
The world tilted.
My cousin. My family. A murderer.
The flames climbed higher, eating through the ancient wood and stone.
And through the fire, I heard Adrian's voice, magically amplified, echoing across the grounds:
"Come out, little cousin! Come face me! Or I'll burn this place down again—but this time, I'll make sure you burn with it!"