Seraphine's POV
The Duke's scream cut off suddenly.
I yanked my hand back, terrified. What had I done? The golden light was still pulsing from my palms, brighter than ever before.
Cassian lay perfectly still on the bed, his eyes closed.
"No, no, no," I whispered, reaching for him again. "Please don't be dead. Please—"
His eyes snapped open.
But they weren't ice-blue anymore. They were glowing pure silver—the same color as mine.
"Seraphine," he said, and his voice sounded different. Layered, like two people speaking at once. "What are you?"
Then he blinked, and his eyes returned to normal. He sat up slowly, looking down at his hands in shock.
"The pain," he breathed. "It's gone. Completely gone."
Commander Theron pushed past me, checking the Duke's curse mark. His face went pale. "Your Grace... the mark. It's faded. I can barely see it anymore."
I looked, and he was right. The black symbol that had been spreading across Cassian's neck like poison was now just a faint outline. Almost invisible.
"How?" Cassian's eyes found mine. "What did you do?"
"I don't know!" My voice came out as a squeak. "I just touched you and the light—it just happened—"
"She healed you," Lyra said from the doorway, her voice full of awe. "She actually healed a divine curse."
"That's impossible," Theron said. "Divine curses can't be healed by mortal means. Only a god could—" He stopped, staring at me. "Unless she's not mortal."
Everyone in the room turned to look at me.
I took a step back. "I'm not—I didn't mean—"
"Everyone out," Cassian ordered. "Now."
Theron opened his mouth to argue, but Cassian's glare stopped him. The guards, healers, and Lyra filed out, leaving us alone.
Cassian stood up—actually stood without wincing or holding onto something for support. He walked toward me, and I backed up until I hit the wall.
"Don't be afraid," he said softly. "I'm not going to hurt you."
"You should be afraid of me. I'm the dangerous one." Tears burned my eyes. "Everyone keeps saying it, and they're right. I brought angels to your door. My touch made you scream. I'm cursed or broken or—"
"You saved my life." He stopped right in front of me. "For ten years, I've been dying slowly. Every day was agony. And you took it away in seconds."
"But the Oracle said—Lyra told me—if we get too close, you'll die. The curse is designed to kill you if I—" I couldn't finish the sentence.
"If you fall in love with me." Cassian's expression was unreadable. "I know. The Oracle told me the same thing."
My heart hammered against my ribs. "Then we can't—I can't—"
"Can't what? Can't stay here? Can't talk to me?" He tilted his head. "Or can't feel whatever this is between us?"
Heat flooded my face. "There's nothing between us. You're a duke. I'm a servant. You're just being kind because—"
"Because when I'm near you, I feel alive." His voice was rough. "Because looking at you makes me want to fight instead of give up. Because somehow, impossibly, you make me hope."
I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. "But hope will kill you."
"Then maybe I'll die happy for once." He reached out slowly, giving me time to pull away. When I didn't, he touched my cheek gently. "Besides, I think the Oracle was wrong."
"What do you mean?"
"You just healed my curse. If your love was supposed to kill me, why would your touch make me better?" His thumb brushed away a tear I didn't know had fallen. "Maybe the curse isn't about love killing me. Maybe it's about love being the only thing that can save me."
Before I could respond, he stepped back. "Rest. We'll figure this out tomorrow."
He left, and I slid down the wall, my whole body shaking.
What was happening to me?
Over the next week, I tried to keep my distance from Cassian. But it was impossible.
He found excuses to be near me constantly. Asking me to bring him tea. Having me organize his library. Teaching me to read the harder books because "you should know these things."
Every interaction made that warmth in my chest grow stronger. And every time, I noticed stranger things happening.
On the third day, I was walking through the castle gardens when I passed a rose bush that had died in the winter cold. Without thinking, I touched one of the withered stems.
Golden light flickered from my fingertips.
The entire bush exploded with new growth. Red roses bloomed everywhere, so many that the bush bent under their weight.
I jerked my hand back, looking around frantically. Had anyone seen?
"That was incredible," Lyra's voice made me jump.
She stood behind me, holding a basket of herbs. Her green eyes were wide with wonder.
"I didn't mean to," I said quickly. "It just happened."
"Like the Duke's curse healing 'just happened'?" Lyra set down her basket and came closer. "Seraphine, things like this have been happening all week. The kitchen cat that was dying? Healthy now, after you pet it. The servant who broke his leg? Walking fine after you helped him up. The dead tree outside your window?" She pointed, and I saw it—a massive oak that had been bare and gray was now covered in green leaves. "That grew back overnight. Right after you touched it."
My hands were shaking. "I don't understand what's wrong with me."
"Nothing's wrong with you." Lyra grabbed my shoulders. "Seraphine, you're not human. I told you—I'm half-fae. I can sense these things. You're something ancient. Something powerful." She hesitated. "I think you really are the goddess they say you are."
"No." I shook my head hard. "Goddesses don't scrub floors. They don't get beaten and starved and sold like property. I'm just a servant who's... broken somehow."
"You're not broken. You're awakening." Lyra's voice was urgent. "And you need to be careful. Because if the Divine Hunters come back and see what you can do—"
"They'll take me." I finished the thought that had been haunting me all week. "They'll drag me back to the heavens."
"Or worse." Lyra looked around nervously. "I've heard rumors. About a goddess who was cast down for loving a mortal. They say her sister wanted to make sure she suffered forever."
The woman from my dreams. The one who looked like me but hated me.
"Celestia," I whispered.
Lyra's face went pale. "How do you know that name?"
"I've been dreaming about her. Every night, I see her pushing me off a cliff. Ripping my power away. Screaming that I don't deserve—" I stopped, my throat tight. "What if the dreams are real? What if they're memories?"
Before Lyra could answer, a scream split the air.
We ran toward the sound and found one of the guards collapsed in the courtyard. Black veins spread across his face, and his eyes had rolled back in his head.
"Poison," Theron said grimly, kneeling beside him. "Same kind that killed three of our men last month. There's no antidote. He'll be dead in an hour."
Without thinking, I pushed through the crowd and dropped beside the dying guard. "Let me try."
"Try what?" Theron demanded.
I placed my hands on the guard's chest. "Just... trust me."
I closed my eyes and reached for that warmth inside me. The golden light that kept appearing when people were hurt.
Please, I thought desperately. Please let this work. He doesn't deserve to die.
Heat flooded through my palms. Golden light poured from my hands into the guard's chest. The black veins started receding, pulling back like they were being burned away.
The guard gasped and his eyes opened—clear and healthy.
The courtyard fell silent.
Everyone stared at me like I'd grown wings.
"She healed him," someone whispered. "She healed black venom poison."
"Only gods can do that," another voice said.
I stood up slowly, my legs shaking. The golden light was still flickering around my hands, visible to everyone now.
Theron looked at me with something between awe and fear. "What are you?"
"I don't know," I said honestly. My voice sounded small and scared. "I don't know what I am."
That night, I couldn't eat. Couldn't rest. The whole castle was talking about what I'd done. Some servants looked at me with hope. Others with fear.
I sat in my room, staring at my hands. In the moonlight, my skin was glowing. Actually glowing, like I'd swallowed starlight.
A knock on the door made me jump. "Come in."
Cassian entered, and even in the darkness, his eyes found mine immediately. "You've been avoiding me."
"I'm trying to keep you safe."
"By healing my curse and saving my men?" He came closer. "That's a strange way to be dangerous."
"You know what I mean. The Oracle said—"
"The Oracle said a lot of things. But she didn't say everything." He sat on the edge of my bed. "I've been researching. Reading everything my family kept about the Goddess of Dawn."
My heart raced. "And?"
"She wasn't cast down for loving a mortal. That was the excuse." His eyes were intense. "She was cast down because she was too powerful. Because she cared more about mortals than staying in heaven. Because her own sister was jealous and wanted the throne."
Everything clicked into place. The dreams. The woman who looked like me. The hatred in her eyes.
"Celestia," I breathed. "She's my sister."
"Was your sister. Three hundred years ago." Cassian reached for my glowing hand. "And I think she's afraid you're coming back."
His touch sent warmth racing through me. Our fingers intertwined, and where our skin met, golden and silver light mixed together.
"What's happening to us?" I whispered.
"I don't know. But I don't think it's a curse." He lifted my hand, watching the light dance across our joined fingers. "I think it's something else. Something that scares the heavens."
A cold wind suddenly burst through my closed window, carrying the smell of lightning and rage.
We both looked up to see a figure materializing in the center of my room.
But it wasn't a Divine Hunter this time.
It was a woman who looked exactly like me—same silver eyes, same dark hair. But where I was uncertain and scared, she radiated cold power and authority.
She wore a crown of stars and a dress that seemed woven from clouds.
"Hello, sister," Goddess Celestia said, her voice dripping with false sweetness. "It's been three hundred years. Did you miss me?"
Cassian immediately stood in front of me, protective even though we both knew he was no match for a goddess.
Celestia laughed. "How sweet. The cursed duke playing hero." Her eyes, identical to mine but so much colder, fixed on me. "I see you've been busy awakening your powers. Healing the dying. Making flowers bloom. Very impressive."
"What do you want?" I managed to ask.
"Want? Oh, Astraea, I don't want anything." She smiled, cruel and beautiful. "I'm just here to deliver a message. In two days, the full Celestial Court will descend on this castle. And when they do, they'll drag you back to face judgment for breaking your banishment."
"She saved lives," Cassian growled. "That's not a crime."
"Using divine power while banished is a crime. And the punishment?" Celestia's smile grew wider. "Permanent execution. Your soul destroyed completely. No reincarnation. No second chances. Just... nothing."
Horror flooded through me. "You planned this. You wanted me to use my powers—"
"Of course I did." Celestia examined her nails casually. "Why do you think I sent that first hunter? Why do you think I had my agents poison that guard? I needed you to reveal yourself. To give the Council proof that you violated your banishment." She looked up, her eyes gleaming with victory. "In two days, little sister, you'll cease to exist. And this time, there's no coming back."
She vanished like smoke, leaving behind the smell of ozone and the echo of her laughter.
I collapsed against Cassian, my whole body shaking.
Two days.
I had two days before an army of gods came to erase me from existence forever.
And the worst part? There was nothing I could do to stop it