LOGIN“The door was never built to keep monsters out.It was built to keep someone in.”The darkness behind the woman in white moved.Not like a shadow.Like something enormous was squeezing through a space far too small for its body.Stone cracked.The temple screamed.Selene grabbed Kael's hand.“Run!”He didn't move.His eyes were fixed on the little silver eyed boy standing inside his shadow.The boy smiled.“Father.”Kael's face went blank.“No.”The woman in white reached toward him.“Come home.”Kael staggered backward.Selene held tighter.“He's not going anywhere.”The woman looked at her.“You still don't understand.”“Then explain!”“You are the reason he has suffered.”Selene flinched.The woman pointed toward Kael.“Every life he has lived ended because of you.”Kael suddenly screamed.His shadow stretched across the floor.The little boy stepped out of it.He was no longer a child.The moment his feet touched the ground, his body changed.Bones lengthened.Silver hair spilled
“A prison is not always built from stone.Sometimes it is built from a person who loves you enough to stay.”The ninth crown burned against Selene's skull.She screamed.Not because it was hot.Because it was remembering her.Images tore through her mind.A throne beneath the earth.Eight figures kneeling.A child crying.Kael standing before her with a sword.Julian screaming her name.And herself—laughing.“No…”She collapsed.Kael caught her before her head struck the floor.“Selene!”His black eyes flickered gold.For a moment, he was himself again.“Look at me.”She gripped his coat.“I don't know who I am anymore.”His face broke.“You're Selene.”“How do you know?”“Because I know you.”“That isn't enough!”Her voice cracked.“What if I was created too?”Kael pulled her closer.“Then I'll love you anyway.”She went still.The words hurt more than the crown.Because they sounded exactly like something he had once said in another life.Behind them, Julian laughed.Not cruelly.S
“A mirror does not create another face.It only reveals the one you were never meant to see.”Kael's scream tore through the darkness.“SELENE!”She turned.He was on his knees.Black veins crawled across his face, his hands clawing at the stone floor as though something inside him was trying to tear its way out.The other Selene stood between them.Perfect.Terrifyingly perfect.Same eyes.Same scar beneath her lip.Same silver mark around her wrist.Even the tiny crescent-shaped birthmark on her neck.Selene stared at her.“Who are you?”The double smiled.“You.”“I am Selene.”“So am I.”The answer came too quickly.Too naturally.Selene felt something cold move through her.Julian stepped in front of her.“Stay away from my sister.”The double looked at him.Then her expression softened.“Julian.”He froze.She smiled.“You still sleep with the window open when you're afraid.”Julian's face went white.Only Selene knew that.Only Selene had ever teased him about it.“How do you kn
“Sometimes the person you fear becoming is the person you have already been.”“I remember killing you.”Kael's words hung in the chamber.Selene couldn't breathe.His eyes were gold now, but not the warm gold she'd seen in her own reflection.These were older.Colder.Eyes that had watched kingdoms burn.She took one step backward.“Kael?”He looked at her.For a heartbeat, the ancient coldness disappeared.“Selene…”His voice was his again.She almost ran into his arms.Then he whispered,“Don't come closer.”She stopped.Kael pressed both hands against his head.“I can hear him.”“Who?”“Myself.”A laugh echoed through the chamber.The ancient creature stood near the broken floor, staring at Kael with an expression Selene had never seen on him before.Fear.“You're awake too early,” he whispered.Kael's head snapped toward him.“Brother.”The creature went still.Selene's heart pounded.That single word seemed to wound him more than any blade.“You remember me?”Kael smiled.“I reme
“The cruelest lie is not the one that hides the truth.It is the one that makes you love the person created by it.”The ninth throne burned brighter.Kael couldn't move.“That's impossible.”The ancient creature smiled.“I said the same thing when they brought you to me.”Kael's eyes narrowed.“Who are you?”The creature touched the black crown fused to his head.“You've been calling me the first king.”His gaze shifted to Selene.“But she called me something else.”Selene's stomach twisted.A memory surfaced.A young man.Bloodied.Kneeling before her.Father.She staggered backward.“No.”Kael caught her.“Selene?”She pushed him away.The creature laughed.“See?”His voice softened.“She remembers.”Caelan stepped forward.“Enough.”The creature's expression hardened.“You don't get to command me anymore.”“I watched you die.”“You watched me become what you made me.”Caelan went silent.Kael looked between them.“What did he mean?”Neither answered.Kael's voice rose.“WHAT DID YO
“A crown does not make a king. Sometimes it only reveals the monster wearing one.”The voice beneath the floor spoke again.“Bring me my crown.”Selene's blood turned cold.Kael's hand tightened around his sword.“No.”The word came from him before he could think.Something beneath the stone laughed.Not loudly.Worse.It sounded amused.The entire chamber trembled.Cracks raced across the floor, splitting the ancient tiles between them. Silver light leaked through the fractures.Julian grabbed Selene's arm.“We're leaving.”She didn't move.Her golden eyes remained fixed on the floor.“I know that voice.”Kael looked at her sharply.“What?”Selene pressed a hand against her chest.“I don't know how.”The golden glow flickered.“But I know him.”Caelan suddenly seized her wrist.“Don't listen.”Selene jerked away.“You said that before.”His face tightened.“You're remembering too quickly.”“Then tell me the truth!”Her scream echoed through the chamber.“Who am I?”Caelan stared at h







