The halls of the Blackthorne estate dripped with silence, cloaked in silver gloom under the bruised eye of the moon. Raina walked the corridor outside the war chamber, every step echoing like a heartbeat that didn't know whether to hope or brace for heartbreak.
Inside, voices clashed—Maeva's orders, Elias's voice muted behind clenched teeth, Lucien's thunderous growl when strategy turned to desperation. Raina wasn't listening to any of it.
All she could think about was Elias.
Not the man who plotted with the Council. Not the Flameborn traitor. But the boy who used to laugh beside her in moonlight, sword training under the stars, who once whispered that he didn't believe in fate unless it came with fire and a name.
Now here they were—on opposite sides of prophecy. And still… he had spared her. In the middle of a battlefield, when his fire should have turned her to ash, he pulled back.
Why?
The door creaked open. Lucien stepped into the corridor, his expression thundercloud dark. His shirt was torn at the collar, blood dried along one temple. His hand twitched, as if it weren't done holding a sword.
"You should be resting," he said.
"So should you," Raina replied, not moving.
He came closer, hesitating before stopping just in front of her. She noticed the cut on his jaw, the faint tremble in his fingers. "Maeva thinks it's a trap," he said. "The message Elias sent."
"And you?" she asked, her voice tight.
"I think a part of you needs answers. And a part of me hates that."
Raina looked away. "He let me live, Lucien."
"I know."
"Why?"
Lucien exhaled, brushing a hand through his blood-matted hair. "Because his hatred was never for you."
She turned back to him, startled. "Then who?"
Lucien's gaze dropped. "Me."
"What?"
"I should've told you before. Back before the prophecy, before the Huntress mark, before we remembered who we were…" His voice cracked. "Elias and I—we were raised together. Trained together. We were brothers in everything but blood."
"And?"
"And then you walked into our world." Lucien's eyes locked with hers. "You weren't Raina then. You were someone else. Fierce. Beautiful. Dangerous. And we both loved you."
Raina's lips parted, but no sound came.
"You chose me," Lucien whispered. "But Elias never stopped loving you."
The truth hit like a punch to the ribs. "He remembered me all this time?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I didn't want your memories to come back and destroy what we've built. What we have now is real. But for Elias…" Lucien trailed off, his face hardening. "He never moved on. He just waited."
A shadow moved in the doorway. Maeva appeared, eyes sharp. "We received word. Elias wants a meeting. Alone. With Raina."
The air went still.
Lucien stepped between them immediately. "No."
Raina's voice cut through the tension. "Yes."
Lucien turned on her, fury in his eyes. "You're not going."
"I am."
"No. If this is a trap—"
"Then let it be," she snapped. "But I need to see him. I need to know what he wants from me. I need to look him in the eye and hear the truth."
Lucien looked like he wanted to argue, but instead, he cupped her face. "If he hurts you…"
"I'll burn him myself."
———
The ruins of the old temple lay deep in the Ghostwood, bathed in moonlight and silence. Vines choked what once were altars. Statues of broken gods stood watch. Raina stepped through the shattered archway, every instinct on high alert.
Elias waited inside.
He looked older somehow—worn down by guilt, by fire, by choices he couldn't undo. The flames that curled around his fingertips didn't scare her. Not anymore.
"You came," he said.
"I shouldn't have," she replied.
"But you did." He stepped closer. "Because part of you remembers."
Raina flinched. "Don't twist my past into something sacred."
Elias's expression softened. "I'm not twisting it. I'm honoring it."
She crossed her arms. "Then say what you came to say."
He reached into his cloak and pulled out a scroll. It was ancient and wrapped in a seal she recognized—her family's crest.
"This is your inheritance," he said. "The prophecy the Council tried to bury. You're not just Flameborn, Raina. You're the lock—and the weapon. And if the wrong hands use you…"
She narrowed her eyes. "Is that why you spared me?"
Elias stepped closer. "I spared you because I love you."
Raina's breath caught.
"I know it's not fair. I know you chose him. But I had to try once more to tell you." His voice dropped. "Come with me. Let me protect you from all of this. From what's coming."
She shook her head slowly. "I'm not running. Not from war. Not from prophecy. And definitely not from myself."
Elias's gaze darkened. "Then Lucien will die. And you'll be the reason."
"No," a voice growled behind her. Lucien emerged from the shadows, sword drawn, his face like carved ice. "She'll be the reason we win."
Elias's fire surged. Lucien's blade flashed.
Raina stepped between them—but it was too late.
The ruins erupted in chaos. Fire clashed with steel. Magic rippled through the air. Statues shattered, and dust rained from the ceiling.
Maeva joined the fight, her blade a blur.
But it was Raina—Raina who stood at the center, her mark glowing like a second sun, her body vibrating with light.
And then it happened.
Power exploded from her core, sending both men flying.
She stood alone at the altar, flames dancing across her shoulders.
"I choose neither of you," she whispered. "I choose me."
And as Elias vanished into the night, wounded and silent…
Raina turned toward the rising sun with ash in her lungs, fire in her blood—and war in her eyes.