The storm swallowed her.
Rain slashed across Evelyn's skin like icy knives as she stumbled down the slick marble steps of Damien's fortress. The night howled around her, the ocean crashing against jagged cliffs, the air electric with magic and rage.
Her breath came in ragged bursts, every step fueled by the fury pounding through her veins. The truth echoed in her skull like a war drum.
He used me. He lied to me.
Lightning split the sky, painting the world in white fire. For one fleeting second, she saw her reflection in a shattered window—drenched, trembling, glowing with golden runes that pulsed like living veins.
The curse wasn't dormant anymore.
It was awake.
Alive.
And hungry.
She reached the edge of the courtyard, rain soaking her dress until it clung like a second skin. Her heart thudded, wild and broken, as she stared into the darkness beyond the gates.
Run. Just keep running.
But then—a whisper slithered through the storm.
"Going somewhere, little dove?"
Evelyn froze.
The voice was silk and poison, smooth as a caress and sharp as a blade. She spun, heart lurching, her pulse a frantic drumbeat in her ears.
Lucien Wolfe stepped from the shadows.
Tall. Elegant. Dressed in black that gleamed like oil in the rain. His eyes—those eyes—glowed molten gold, burning through the darkness like twin suns. Lightning carved his face into something inhuman, beautiful, and terrifying.
He smiled slowly. "You run so fast. Almost like you're afraid."
Her fists clenched. "Stay away from me."
He tsked softly, stepping closer. "After all this time… after all those nights I watched you from afar… do you really think I'd let you go?"
Her stomach twisted. "You—what?"
His smile deepened, dark and knowing. "Did you think Damien was the only one keeping secrets?"
The rain seemed to hush around them, the world narrowing to the space between his lips and her breath. Every instinct screamed to move, to fight—but her body wouldn't listen. Not when his voice curled around her like velvet chains.
"What do you want from me?" she forced out.
Lucien's gaze dragged over her like a lover's touch, lingering on the glowing runes spiraling across her skin. His jaw tightened with something savage, something hungry. "You."
Her heart slammed against her ribs. "Why?"
He stepped closer, until the storm became a whisper against her ear. "Because you're the key," he murmured. "The curse binding you—it wasn't just meant to kill. It was meant to choose."
Her breath caught. "Choose… what?"
"Who inherits the power." His lips curved, his voice dipping into a dangerous purr. "Me… or Damien."
The ground tilted beneath her. "No…"
"Yes." His fingers brushed her cheek, slow and deliberate, tracing the water and tears on her skin. "And I will not let him win."
Evelyn jerked back, fire flaring in her veins, magic crackling in the air between them. "You think I'm some prize? Some… object in your twisted war?"
Lucien's laugh was low, dark, and devastatingly smooth. "No, Evelyn." His eyes blazed like molten suns. "You're not the prize. You're the throne."
Before she could speak—before she could even breathe—he moved.
One second he was a shadow, the next his hand was on her waist, yanking her against him. His scent—smoke and storm and something forbidden—flooded her senses. His lips hovered inches from hers, a promise and a threat.
"You deserve to know the truth," he whispered. "Damien didn't just curse you… his family created you."
The world shattered.
Her breath hitched, her mind screaming even as her body trembled in his grip. "You're lying."
"Am I?" His thumb brushed her jaw, slow and possessive, his gaze molten with desire and danger. "Let me show you."
And then—he kissed her.
Not like Damien.
Lucien's kiss was sin wrapped in silk, fire laced with venom. It stole her breath, burned through her blood, sank into her bones like a brand. She hated it. She hated him.
And yet…
Her magic flared, golden light exploding between them, crackling like lightning as his lips claimed hers, as his hand gripped her waist, as her body betrayed her and clung to him like drowning to air.
When he tore away, her chest heaved, her heart a wild, broken drum.
"You feel it," he whispered against her lips. "The bond. The truth. He can never give you this."
Tears burned her eyes. "Stay away from me."
But his smile was slow, wicked, inevitable. "You have ninety days, Evelyn. Ninety days to choose who lives… and who dies."
And then—he vanished into the storm, leaving only the echo of his kiss and the taste of sin on her lips.
The storm hadn't stopped.
But Evelyn had.
She stood frozen at the edge of the courtyard, her body trembling, her lips still burning with the ghost of Lucien's kiss. Her mind screamed to run, to forget—but her soul throbbed with something darker, something she couldn't name.
The runes on her skin pulsed brighter, golden fire weaving through her veins like molten chains. Her magic was spiraling, wild and untamed, feeding on the chaos ripping her apart.
Damien lied to me. Lucien kissed me. And I… I didn't stop him.
The gates loomed ahead like a promise of freedom. She took a step—
"EVELYN!"
Her heart stopped.
Damien's voice tore through the storm, raw and jagged, shattering the silence like glass. She turned slowly, her breath caught between fury and fear.
And there he was.
Damien Wolfe.
Soaked to the bone, his black shirt clinging to muscles cut from steel, blood streaking his jaw where she had blasted him away. His silver eyes burned—not with coldness this time, but with fire. With rage. With something far more dangerous.
He strode toward her like a storm given flesh, his steps eating the distance, the air crackling with power that made the rain sizzle.
"Don't," she warned, voice breaking. "Don't come near me."
But he didn't stop.
"You ran," he said, his tone soft—too soft. The kind of soft that bled fury. "After everything, you ran."
Her hands shook. "You lied to me, Damien!"
His jaw clenched, water dripping from his dark hair, his fists curling at his sides. "I lied to protect you."
"Protect me?" A broken laugh tore from her throat. "You chained me to a curse your family created!"
His breath hitched, just slightly—but it was enough. "Evelyn—"
"No!" Her voice cracked like thunder. "Don't you dare say my name like it means something. I am not your pawn. I am not your bloodline's salvation. I am not yours."
The wind whipped between them, slicing like knives. For a moment, silence stretched—a knife-edge ready to snap.
Then Damien saw it.
The mark.
The golden flames crawling higher up her throat, mingling with something darker—black tendrils curling like smoke beneath her skin. His heart plummeted, his breath leaving him in a ragged curse.
And then he smelled it.
Lucien.
The taste of sin clinging to her lips. The echo of his brother's power thrumming through her aura.
His vision went red.
"You saw him." His voice was death wrapped in silk. "You let him touch you."
Her breath caught. "Damien—"
"You let him kiss you."
The fury in his voice cracked the sky. Lightning split the heavens, thunder roaring like a beast unleashed. His fists curled so tight blood dripped from his palms, mingling with the rain.
"Damien, stop—" she tried, but it was too late.
The air thickened. Dark energy erupted around him, shadows coiling like serpents, silver flames igniting in his eyes. His power slammed into her like a tidal wave, shoving her back against the iron gates with bone-shaking force.
"Did you like it?" His voice was a low growl, shaking with rage. "Did you like his hands on you, his mouth—"
"Don't—" she choked out, tears streaming down her face. "Don't do this."
"Too late."
The world blurred—and suddenly, Lucien was there.
One heartbeat, there was nothing but rain. The next, a wall of black tailored silk and molten gold eyes stood between her and Damien, his smile slow, savage, dripping with lethal amusement.
"Careful, brother," Lucien purred, his voice like a blade dipped in honey. "You sound… jealous."
Damien's snarl was pure murder. "You touched her."
Lucien tilted his head, his grin wicked. "I did more than touch."
The sound Damien made wasn't human.
Power detonated from him in a violent wave, silver light slicing through the storm, cracking the earth beneath their feet. Lucien's laugh rang out as he blocked the blow with a flick of his wrist, shadows coiling like chains, twisting around Damien's light in a storm of steel and fire.
And then—they clashed.
It was a war made flesh.
Blades of light and shadow tearing the night apart.
Thunder screaming, earth splitting, the ocean rising like a monster from the depths.
Evelyn staggered back, the force of their battle ripping the breath from her lungs. Rain turned to steam, lightning dancing across the shattered courtyard as the brothers fought like gods, their power leveling everything in its path.
"STOP!" she screamed, magic erupting from her skin in a burst of golden fire. "STOP IT!"
But they didn't hear her.
They couldn't.
Because this wasn't just a fight.
It was a reckoning.
Damien's blade—silver steel wrapped in runes—slashed across Lucien's shoulder, black blood spilling like ink. Lucien hissed, his grin sharpening into something feral, and drove his fist into Damien's ribs, sending him crashing into a marble pillar that shattered like glass.
"Pathetic," Lucien sneered. "You couldn't even keep her."
Damien wiped the blood from his lips, his silver eyes blazing. "You'll never have her."
Lucien's smile was pure sin. "Oh, Damien… I already do."
And then—he lunged.
But Evelyn moved first.
Her scream tore the sky apart as her power exploded, a tidal wave of golden fire engulfing the courtyard. The shockwave hurled both men backward, slamming them into opposite walls, cracking the stone like paper.
She stood at the center of the storm, her eyes blazing molten gold, her hair whipping in the wind, the curse burning brighter than ever.
"ENOUGH!" Her voice thundered like the wrath of gods. "You want a war? You want me to choose?"
Her magic surged, chains of golden light wrapping around their throats, pinning them both to the ground as they gasped for air.
"Then hear me," she spat, her voice shaking the heavens. "I choose ME."
And with a final scream, she drove her power into the earth.
The ground split open.
The mansion trembled.
And everything went black.