Seraphina's POV - Wedding Night
Where are you taking me? I gasp as we run through dark streets.
Jason doesn't answer, just pulls me faster around corners, through alleys, over fences. He moves like he knows every inch of this city.
Behind us, shouts fade into the distance. We're losing them.
Finally, Jason stops at what looks like an abandoned warehouse. He knocks three times, pauses, then twice more.
The door opens.
Inside, more people. Young people, mostly. All armed. All watching me with fierce eyes.
Who are they? I ask.
Adrian's network. Jason finally releases my hand. The resistance your brother built before he died.
My legs almost give out. Adrian built a resistance?
He knew something was wrong. Started recruiting six months before the siege. Jason gestures to the others. We're fighters, spies, smugglers. Everything a rebellion needs. Adrian called us the Phoenix Guard.
Phoenix Guard, I repeat numbly. My baby brother started a rebellion?
Your baby brother was sixteen but smart as hell. A girl about my age steps forward. I'm Maya. Adrian saved my family from a fire. I owed him everything.
I'm Chen, says a young man with scarred hands. Adrian taught me to read. Gave me a future.
One by one, they introduce themselves. Each one has a story. Each one loved my brother.
I sink onto a crate, overwhelmed. He never told me.
He wanted to protect you. Jason kneels beside me. He knew if things went bad, they'd come for him. He didn't want you involved. Made us promise if anything happened, we'd keep you safe.
Tears sting my eyes. But I couldn't keep him safe.
You tried. Maya's voice is gentle. We were watching that night. We saw you try to pull him away. He chose to fight so you could escape.
The memory hits me like a fist. Adrian's face. His last words: Run, Sera.
He left you something. Jason hands me a sealed letter. He wrote it the day before the siege. Just in case.
My hands shake as I break the seal.
Sera,
If you're reading this, I'm dead. I'm sorry. I know you're crying. Stop it. I need you to listen.
Something bad is coming. I don't know exactly what, but I've been gathering evidence. The Emperor is corrupt. Father knows too much. Mother discovered his crimes. They're going to come for us.
I've prepared for this. The Phoenix Guard will protect you. Trust Jasonhe's my best friend and the smartest person I know. Trust Mayashe's the best fighter I've ever seen. Trust Chenhe can forge any document in the empire.
Adrian's letter breaks me and rebuilds me in the same moment. He knew. He was prepared. While I thought I was protecting him, he was protecting me. My little brother wasn't so little after all. He was brave and brilliant and he deserved so much more time. So much more life.
There's more evidence hidden. Father and Mother have a copy. General Thorne has another. And I've hidden a third in a place only you can find.
Remember the tree, Sera? Our tree in the garden where you taught me to climb? Where we carved our initials when I was eight? The evidence is there. Buried in the box with our childhood treasures.
Use it. Destroy the Emperor. Reclaim our home.
And please don't waste your life on revenge. Live. Be happy. Fall in love. That's what I want for you.
You're going to be amazing, big sister. I wish I could stay to see it.
Love always, Adrian
I clutch the letter to my chest, sobbing.
My brilliant, brave, beautiful brother. He planned all of this. Prepared for his own death. Made sure I'd have what I needed to fight back.
The tree, I choke out. It's at our estate. In Valeria.
Then we go to Valeria. Jason stands. We get the evidence. We finish what Adrian started.
The estate is occupied. Maya frowns. Imperial troops everywhere. Getting in will be suicide.
Then we make it work. I wipe my tears away. Adrian died for this. I'm not letting his sacrifice be meaningless.
What about General Thorne? Chen asks. Is he alive?
The question hits me hard. I don't know. The chaos in the safe house Blackwell's knife at his throat I don't know if Kael survived.
We'll find out, I say, trying to sound confident. But first, we need that evidence. Without it, we can't prove anything against the Emperor.
Jason nods. We leave at dawn. I have contacts who can get us to Valeria. But once we're there
A crash from outside.
Everyone freezes.
Jason signals. The others grab weapons, moving silently into defensive positions.
I'm pulled behind a stack of crates.
The door explodes inward.
Not guards this time.
One person. Alone.
Covered in blood. Limping. Barely standing.
Kael.
The Phoenix Guard is everything Adrian dreamed of organized, dedicated, ready to fight. They've been waiting for me, preparing for the day I'd emerge from my grief and lead them. But can I? Can I be the leader they need? Can I finish what my brother started? I have to. For him. For all of them.
He locks eyes with me across the warehouse. Relief floods his face.
Seraphina, he gasps. Thank God.
Then he collapses.
We rush to him. He's been stabbed in the side, bleeding badly.
What happened? I cradle his head. Where's Blackwell?
Escaped. Kael's voice is weak. Took the locket. Has the evidence now.
My heart sinks. No.
It's worse. Kael grabs my hand with surprising strength. He knows about Adrian's evidence. About the tree. He's sending men to Valeria right now.
How does he know
Margarethe told him. Before we escaped, she He coughs. Blood flecks his lips. She knew everything. All of Adrian's plans. She's been feeding information to Blackwell for years.
The world spins.
Margarethe knew about the Phoenix Guard. About the hidden evidence. About everything.
Which means she's probably telling Blackwell right now.
We need to leave, Jason says urgently. If they know about Valeria
It's too late. Maya points to the window.
Outside, the sky glows orange.
Fire.
And not close. Far away. But massive.
What is that? I breathe.
Kael's grip on my hand tightens. That's Valeria burning. Again.
I stare at the distant flames. My home. My childhood. Adrian's tree.
The evidence we need to stop the Emperor.
All burning.
No, I whisper. No, no, no
There's still hope. Kael pulls himself up, wincing. I have the third copy. Hid it before the wedding. Different location.
Kael's confession that he was in the catacombs that night that changes everything. What does he mean? What did he see? What did he do? The questions pile up faster than I can process them. But there's no time for answers now. Only time for action, for choosing sides, for committing to this fight fully. The time for hesitation is over. The war begins now.
Where?
He looks at me with pain-filled eyes.
The catacombs. Under your family's estate. The place where you hid the night of the siege.
The place I swore I'd never return to.
The place where I heard my family die.
I can't, I breathe. I can't go back there.
You have to. Kael's voice is gentle but firm. It's the only way.
Jason looks between us. What's in the catacombs?
Kael never breaks eye contact with me. Everything. Every crime. Every murder. Every lie. Enough to destroy the Emperor.
And ghosts, I whisper. So many ghosts.
Then we'll face them together. Kael squeezes my hand. I'll be with you. Every step.
I look at my brother's letter. At the Phoenix Guard. At the burning sky.
Adrian died for this fight.
Mother and Father died for this truth.
I can't let their deaths mean nothing.
Even if it means walking back into my nightmares.
When do we leave? I ask.
Now. Maya throws me a cloak. Before the Emperor realizes we're coming.
As we prepare, Kael pulls me aside.
There's something else, he says quietly. Something I need to tell you before we go.
What?
His expression is tortured. The night of the siege. In the catacombs. You weren't alone.
My blood turns to ice. What do you mean?
I was there too.