LOGINChoose the body.The voice beneath the house rolled through the broken floor like a command from the grave, and Aira felt Kael jerk so violently in her arms that her own bones seemed to ring. The blackness at the edge of his eye surged hard, then froze, as if the thing inside his blood had struck a wall it had never expected. Aira did not let go of him. She locked both hands over his chest and shoved herself into the bond with everything she had left, every memory of him, every moment he had held her through terror, every promise he had made with blood in his mouth and love in his eyes. “Kael,” she whispered, trembling but fierce, “stay with me. You are here. You are with me. Do not listen to the voice below.” His breath came out ragged and torn. The tiny hand in his palm twitched once, then stilled. The baby inside her answered with a bright pulse that rolled through the bond like fire finding dry wood, and for one fragile heartbeat she felt him hear her. Not safe. Not whole. But eno
The moment her mother spoke the root gate’s true name, Kael lurched in Aira’s arms as if the sound had struck straight through his bones. The blackness at the edge of his eye surged hard and then froze, trapped by something older than pain. Aira did not let him slip. She locked both hands over his chest and poured herself into the bond with everything she had left, every memory of him, every fierce moment when he had held her through terror, every promise he had made with blood in his mouth and love in his eyes. “Kael,” she whispered, trembling but unbroken, “stay with me. You are here. You are with me. Do not listen to the voice below.” His breath came ragged and torn. The tiny hand in his palm twitched once, then stilled. The baby inside her answered with a bright pulse that rolled through the bond like fire finding dry wood, and for one precious heartbeat she felt him hear her. Not safe. Not whole. But enough.Below them, the father beneath the floor went white. He stared at Aira’s
The root gate spoke the child’s name like a prayer it had been starving to remember.Aira froze as the sound rolled through the broken floor and into her bones. The hand on her stomach was warm and marked, her mother’s hand, but the voice coming from the dark below was neither her mother’s nor the father’s nor the house’s anymore. It was older than all of them, and the moment it said the child’s name, Kael shuddered so violently in her arms that the blackness at the edge of his eye surged like ink poured into water. Aira did not let him go. She locked both hands over his chest and pushed herself into the bond with everything she had left, every memory of him, every fierce moment he had chosen her over the dark, every promise he had made with blood in his mouth and love in his eyes. “Kael,” she whispered, trembling but fierce, “stay with me. You are here. You are with me. Do not listen to the thing under the house.” His breath came ragged and torn. The tiny hand in his palm twitched on
The hand rising from the darkness beneath the floor reached for Aira’s womb with such slow certainty that it made her skin crawl. Kael jerked in her arms, the blackness at the edge of his eye flaring hard enough to make her stomach clench, and for one terrible heartbeat she thought the root gate had finally found the seam it needed to tear him open again. Aira did not let it. She slammed both hands over his chest and shoved herself deeper into the bond, pouring every warm memory she had left into the space between them. His hands on her skin. His voice when he said her name like it mattered. The fierce way he had guarded her even when the whole house turned against them. “Kael,” she whispered, trembling but fierce, “stay with me. You are here. You are with me. Do not look at the dark below.” His breath came out ragged and torn. The tiny hand in his palm twitched once, then stilled. The baby inside her answered with a bright pulse, and the bond flared hot enough to burn the corruption
Aira stared at the second heart beating inside her mother and felt the world narrow down to a single unbearable point. Kael shuddered in her arms as the blackness at the edge of his eye surged again, feeding on the shock, on the sight of her mother smiling with a calm that did not belong to any living woman Aira had ever known. She did not let him slip. She locked both hands over his chest and forced herself deeper into the bond, pouring warmth, memory, and fierce stubborn love into the space between them until it burned. “Kael,” she whispered, her forehead pressed to his, “stay with me. You are here. You are with me. Do not follow the voice below.” His breath came out rough and broken. The tiny hand in his palm twitched once, then stilled. The baby inside her answered with a bright pulse that rolled through the bond like fire finding dry wood, and for one fragile heartbeat she felt the man beneath the corruption answer her. Not whole. Not safe. But enough.Below them, the father bene
Aira held Kael as the floor split wider beneath them, and for one terrible heartbeat she felt him slip again. The blackness at the edge of his eye surged hard enough to make her stomach clench, and the tiny hand in his palm twitched as if the darkness below had found a fresh seam to crawl through. She did not let fear take him. She locked both hands over his chest and shoved herself into the bond with everything she had left, every memory of him, every promise, every kiss, every moment he had held her when she thought she might break. “Kael,” she whispered, shaking but fierce, “stay with me. You are here. You are with me. Do not listen to what is under the house.” His breath came out ragged and raw. The baby inside her answered with a bright pulse, and the bond flared hot enough to burn the corruption back another breath. Not gone. Not safe. But held. That was enough. It had to be enough.Below them, the father beneath the floor lifted his head with a face carved open by grief. He loo
Aira could not breathe.The woman standing at the mouth of the corridor looked exactly like her—not as she was now, but as if the chamber had reached into the future and pulled out her reflection from another age. Same eyes. Same bone structure. Same dark hair falling in soft waves over her shoulde
Light swallowed everything.Kael’s vision fractured as the chamber blazed silver-white, then crimson at the edges, then something deeper still—something that did not belong to either of them. He heard Aira cry out once, heard the crack of power tearing through stone, heard Rowan swear, Marcus shout
Kael didn’t breathe. The moment Aira vanished into the flare of light, something inside him tore open—silent but violent. The chamber shuddered as the bond stretched thin, pulled somewhere he couldn’t reach, somewhere he’d never felt before. Not distance. Not even another realm. Something deeper. O
The chamber went still.Not silent—But waiting.Like it was listening for what came next.Kael didn’t take his eyes off the Alpha.“We’re not doing this your way,” he said.Low. Final.The Alpha tilted his head slightly, almost amused.“You think you have another option?”Kael didn’t answer.Becau







