***********Harper
The first thing I felt was pain. Not the sharp, stabbing kind that came from the knife I had driven into myself so many times, but the heavy ache of waking up somewhere I didn't want to be. My chest rose and fell with breath I didn't ask for, and when I opened my eyes, I immediately knew something was wrong.
I wasn't in a hospital, nor in the broken house where I had tried to throw myself from the window. The air was thick with incense and ash, carrying an ancient scent that made my stomach turn. Strange markings glowed faintly around me, etched into the stone floor in perfect, ominous symmetry. My pulse quickened when I realized I was standing directly in the center of a circle of spells.
No.
This wasn't just another cruel trick of the game. This was something else entirely.
And then I saw him.
Vaelthor.
He stood at the edge of the circle, dark robes rippling as though they carried their own wind. His eyes gleamed like molten silver, full of hunger and something else—ownership. His hands hovered over the air, whispering incantations I couldn't understand, and the symbols beneath me flared to life, brighter and brighter, until I felt their heat burning into my skin.
I staggered back, only to slam against an invisible wall. A trap. I was caught.
My breath came in short gasps. "What… what is this?" I whispered, my voice breaking. Fear surged through me, but anger quickly followed. "Why won't you just let me die?"
For the first time since I'd woken, Vaelthor's lips curved into something like a smile. Cold, sharp, merciless.
"You think I control that?" he asked, his voice low and resonant, carrying too much certainty. "No, Harper. The game has changed. It has a mind of its own now. Even I can't bend its will. Death isn't an escape for you anymore. Not here. Not ever."
His words made my knees weak. The game had a mind of its own? Then it wasn't just Kael. It wasn't just him controlling me—it was the system itself, alive and breathing, like a beast that had set its eyes on me.
I clenched my fists, heat rushing to my face. "So what, then? You think that means I belong to you? That you can do whatever you want because I can't die?"
His smile widened, though his eyes darkened, heavy with possession. "Not just whatever I want," he said softly. "What I deserve. You've carried pieces of me inside you for too long, Harper. Too much of my power runs in your veins. And now that you can't slip away into death, I can finally claim you. Make you mine."
My stomach twisted. Rage mixed with disgust. "Don't. Don't you dare do anything stupid, Vaelthor. I'm warning you."
The spells pulsed, brighter, hotter. He raised his hand, and I felt the pull immediately, invisible chains dragging me upward. My feet left the ground, my body suspended in the air as though his will alone held me captive. I thrashed, struggling against it, but the power was too strong.
"Harper."
My head snapped toward the voice. Kael. He was here.
He stood just beyond the glowing symbols, his face shadowed but his stance radiating defiance. His eyes narrowed on Vaelthor, sharp with a fury I had rarely seen.
"Put her down," Kael said evenly, though his voice carried the weight of a threat. "She's not your belonging."
Vaelthor turned slowly, eyes gleaming. "Stay out of this, brother. Be a good boy and know your place. She is mine. My power, my soul, my other half. I'll bind her, and you'll keep your distance."
Kael's jaw tightened. He stepped closer, his aura flaring. "She's not yours. She never was. And if you don't let her go, you're the one who'll end up harmed."
I blinked. The word hung between them, heavy, unsettling.
Natalie's voice cut through the tension from somewhere behind Vaelthor. She had been silent until now, but her tone carried confusion. "What is he talking about, Vaelthor? Why does he sound like—"
Kael's lips curved into a sharp, humorless smile. "Oh. He didn't tell you?" His voice dripped with sarcasm. "Of course he wouldn't. Let me enlighten you, then. Harper has more of his power than he does. She's absorbed too much of it. That's why he's desperate to bind himself to her. Without her, he's incomplete. Weak."
The words hit me like a blade to the chest. I froze, staring at Vaelthor. Could it be true?
Natalie's eyes widened, flicking between us, her lips parting in shock.
But Vaelthor… Vaelthor's expression twisted, the mask of calm shattering. Anger surged across his face like a storm. "Enough." His voice thundered, reverberating through the chamber. "I won't tolerate your insolence!"
Before I could even think, his hands rose higher, the air thrumming with power. The glowing spells beneath me flared blindingly bright, searing against my skin. I screamed, my body arching as invisible chains tightened around me.
The ritual. He was finishing it.
"Stop!" Kael roared. His energy surged, clashing against Vaelthor's in the air like lightning and fire colliding. The ground shook beneath us, the spell circle cracking under the force.
But Vaelthor didn't stop. He dragged me higher, his words twisting into the incantation's climax. "With this bond, our souls—"
A violent crash cut through his chant.
Lightning struck.
The world itself seemed to shatter.
The force knocked me out of the air, hurling me to the stone floor. I hit hard, the impact driving the breath from my lungs. The light from the spell exploded outward, tearing through the chamber like a hurricane. I saw Natalie thrown against the wall, Vaelthor collapsing mid-chant, Kael shielding himself as sparks of power tore across his arms.
Then everything went dark.
The silence was suffocating.
When my eyes fluttered open again, I wasn't in the spell circle anymore.
The floor was cold. The air was damp, heavy with mildew and rust. I blinked rapidly, forcing my vision to focus. Walls of stone surrounded me, thick iron bars cutting across one side. A dungeon.
I pushed myself up slowly, my limbs trembling. The faint glow of torches lit the corridor outside, casting long shadows across the cracked walls.
Kael lay a few feet away, still unconscious, his chest rising and falling with shallow breaths. Relief washed through me—at least he was alive.
I pressed a hand against my chest, heart racing. The ritual had been interrupted, but what did it mean? Where were we now?
The sound of dripping water echoed through the dungeon, hollow and endless.
I swallowed hard, my throat dry. "Where… where are we?" I whispered to myself, but the question echoed back at me in the silence, unanswered.