The forest was still trembling from the blast of energy when Amelia pulled her hand away, heart hammering. Whatever that spark had been, it was too vivid… too intimate… too dangerous.
The disciple stared at his palm like it had betrayed him.
His master noticed immediately. "Lian," he warned, voice like ice breaking. "Do not touch her again."
So that was his name.
Lian.
Sharp-jawed, cold-eyed, a man built for killing demons — yet the way he looked at Amelia felt anything but cold.
Amelia folded her arms across her chest, trying to hide the tremor in her fingers. "Someone explain what just happened. Now."
The master — older, hardened, carrying centuries of battles in the lines of his face — stepped forward.
"I am Master Chen, Keeper of the Crimson Order. The creature you saw was one of the remnants of the Demon Pact — the same pact your mother was involved in."
"My mother died when I was seven," Amelia said sharply. "She wasn't some demon worshipper."
"Not worshipper," Master Chen corrected. "Victim. Pawn. And ultimately… betrayer."
Amelia flinched.
But Lian spoke up, softer than she expected. "She tried to break the pact. She wanted to protect you. That's why the demons marked your soul instead."
Her throat tightened.
Master Chen continued, "Your rebirth was not natural. Fate intervened. Something — or someone — pulled your soul back."
Amelia looked between them. "Why would anyone do that?"
Lian stepped closer, eyes burning.
"Because your destiny was stolen. And fate hates when something precious is taken."
His gaze pinned her in place — dark, intense, almost hungry. Amelia's breath caught. There was something in his eyes… familiarity. As though he'd been waiting for her far longer than one lifetime.
Master Chen cut in sharply, "Enough."
Lian didn't move away.
Amelia swallowed. "If I'm cursed… then why save me?"
"Because," Master Chen said, "your existence disrupts the balance between realms. Your mother's sins created a chain of consequences still unfolding. If you die before your destiny resets, the demons win."
"And what destiny is that?"
He hesitated.For the first time, Amelia saw uncertainty in his expression.
Lian answered instead. "To break the Bloodline Cycle."
"The what—?"
But a new sound cut her off: a deep rumble rolling through the ground, shaking the trees.
Master Chen's expression darkened.
"They've found us."
Lian immediately drew a blade that shimmered with silver flames. He stepped in front of Amelia without hesitation — body tense, ready to kill or die.
"Stay behind me," he murmured, voice low. "I'll protect you."
The heat in his tone made her stomach twist.
Amelia clenched her fists. "I don't need protection."
"You do now." His voice was so close her breath tangled with his. "And whether you like it or not… you're mine to guard."
Before she could respond, black fissures tore open between the trees.
Demonic shadows crawled out.
Hundreds.
Master Chen raised his hand. "We can't fight them here. Lian — take her!"
Lian grabbed Amelia's wrist, energy crackling between them again — violent, magnetic.
"What are you doing—"
"Saving you," he growled.
And in the blink of an eye, the world twisted, the forest vanished—
—and Amelia found herself being pulled through a collapsing tunnel of shadows, held tightly against the chest of a man whose heartbeat thundered like war drums.
It felt like falling through time itself.
Her last thought before darkness swallowed them was terrifying in its clarity:
Why did his arms feel familiar?Why did his touch feel like the beginning of a story she had already lived?