We rode back to the Moon Pack estate under a sky that never blinked.
The stars above us hung strangely still, like the heavens were afraid to move.
Lucas didn't speak for most of the journey. I didn't either. There were no words left to say, only the quiet dread building in both of us.
Auren was still unconscious when we arrived.
But something had changed.
Mother Dema met us at the gates, her face grim beneath her hood.
"He's marked," she said. "The Crown burned a new seal into him."
We rushed to the infirmary.
When I pulled back the sheets, I saw it.
A fresh sigil blazed across his chest spiraling lines that pulsed with both red and violet light.
It was the Mark of the Split Flame.
Lucas stared. "What does it mean?"
Mother Dema's voice was low. "It means the veil no longer sees him as one. It sees him… as two."
I turned to her. "You mean Ashara."
"She's tethered to him. Through blood. Through origin. Through the wound Ophelia left behind when she tried to play gods."
