The words still echoed through her like thunder in a storm.
"We'll meet again, little wolf."
Aurelia sat by the frosted window of her room, one leg wrapped in a bandage, her fingers ghosting the glass.
She could still feel him — the devil's son — not just in her body where he'd caught her, but in her mind. His voice haunted her like a lullaby with teeth.
Her reflection in the window looked... different. Darker. Like a secret was blooming in her soul and she couldn't stop it anymore.
A knock shattered the silence.
Ren and Aero entered — calm, at first.
But that calm cracked the moment they saw her expression.
"Who was he?" Aero demanded, storm in his voice.
"Who saved you?" Ren added, his stare burning through her skin.
"I… I don't know."
It wasn't a lie. Not exactly.
"Lia," Aero said, crouching down beside her, voice softer now. "Your horse was a trap. Mireya could've killed you."
"I know," she whispered, eyes dull. "But that's not what's keeping me up at night."
They didn't answer — couldn't.
Because both brothers felt it too.
She was changing.
Down the hall…
The Duke stood facing a painting of Aurelia's late mother. His jaw was clenched so tightly it could snap.
"She found him," he muttered.
Tessa, leaning against the doorframe, raised a brow. "You're certain?"
"She doesn't even realize it yet. But that's how it begins. Every time."
"The prophecy?"
"No," he said coldly. "Worse."
In the southern lands…
A man stood in a marble chamber lit by dying candlelight. The stone walls were covered in ancient runes. There was blood on his gloves. A black dagger at his side.
Caelum Vire.
Hair as dark as the void. A gaze that could crack mountains. Silence followed him like a loyal dog.
He stared into the enchanted mirror before him, where Aurelia's reflection shimmered faintly.
"She's blooming again," he whispered.
Behind him, a servant trembled. "Should I inform the High Court?"
"No."
He turned slowly, that haunting smirk ghosting his lips.
"Let them keep playing war with Riven Drayke and his rage. It won't matter in the end."
He walked toward the window, pulling off his bloodied gloves with grace so lethal it was almost elegant.
"She will come to me."
"But my Lord… what if she doesn't remember who you are?"
Caelum's eyes glinted like moonlight on ice.
"Then I'll make her remember."
Back at the estate…
Aurelia finally slipped into a restless sleep. But in her dreams…
She stood barefoot in a field of burning black roses.
A shadow emerged from the smoke.
He whispered in her ear:
"Even if you belong to him now…You were mine first."
END OF CHAPTER 16