At the monastery. Everyone was asleep.
Everyone except her.
Aletha stirred in her sheets, her forehead beaded with sweat, her fists clenched. Her sleep was a choppy sea of burning memories.
Screams.
Flames.
Bursts of magic and bodies on the ground.
And Nick…
Nick calling her, Nick pushing her out of a burning building, his pleading gaze etched in her memory.
She relived that fateful night again. Over and over again.
But suddenly, something changed.
The surroundings became blurred, almost unreal. A strange mist enveloped her, and she found herself face to face with him.
Nick.
Standing.
Smiling.
He reached out to her. His eyes were neither tender nor compassionate. They were cold, empty.
"So, my love... You want to replace me?"
Aletha stepped back, upset.
"No... no, never! It's you I love, Nick. You alone... I'll never love anyone else."
"Really?" he said, a cruel sneer on his lips. "So... who is Caden?"
She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
"Why do you hesitate to hear his name? Why does he occupy so much space in your heart?"
"That's not true... I don't love him... It's you I love!"
Nick moved closer and stroked her cheek with a gentle but icy touch.
"Then prove it."
"What?"
"Prove it to me... Kill him."
Aletha stared at him, terrified.
"Wh... What?"
"If you love me... get rid of him." He's taking my place, isn't he? Make him disappear. For me.
His fingers gently closed around her throat, not to strangle her, but as if to possess her.
And she, hypnotized, lost in the pain of lost love, breathed as if in a trance:
"I won't let him replace you... I promise you... I'll kill him..."
A flash of lightning flashed.
She woke with a start, gasping.
Her heart was pounding. She ran a hand over her face, trembling. Her gaze wandered around the room.
Everything seemed normal.
But... her eyes, usually a clear blue, were black. Completely black. The reflection in the window made her shudder. She shook her head violently, as if chasing away an invisible shadow.
"What the..." she whispered.
Her eyes turned blue again. She tried to remember her dream.
Nothing.
A complete blackout.
She forced herself to smile.
"It must not have been important..."
Then she lay back down.
But where the black liquid had touched her... her skin had blackened, forming a dark mark, almost invisible to the naked eye, like a creeping infection.