LOGINKaelNine names.Ren could smell Talus.That was the first thing that made me realize Dad was right.The warlock was becoming mortal.Before, he smelled like emptiness, metal, old magic, and hundreds of people layered over one another. Now, beneath all of that, there was sweat, blood, fear.A man.Harper stood between Elian and me.The bonds had returned, separated just as Dad explained. I could feel her presence with an intensity that almost hurt. I could not enter her emotions or read her mind. I only knew where she was and that something inside me recognized her as a possible home.Possible.The word mattered.Talus was still standing over the altar.“The first name,” he said, “belongs to a girl who died two hundred years ago. If you return it, it will go nowhere.”Mom raised the medallion.
ArselMy sons’ bonds exploded through the family network like two bolts of lightning searching for the same point.Harper fell to her knees.Kael and Elian did too.My body’s immediate response was to run toward them, but Elaine grabbed me.“Wait.”“They’re suffering.”“Talus wants us to intervene.”I could feel Kael through the pack bond.Desire.Fear.The need to touch Harper.And a savage fury because Elian felt the same.Not fury toward his brother.Fury at the situation.Elian was different.His pain folded inward, trying to make itself smaller so he would not put pressure on anyone.Talus had identified both patterns precisely.“Kael,” I said through the family link. “Do not occupy the decision.”My son breathed.“Elian, do not disappear from her,” Elaine added.Elian lifted his head.Harper was in the center.The black mark was absorbing energy from both bonds and sending it toward the altar.Talus was using the mate bonds as conduits.“Amelie,” I called.“I can’t block them ag
ElaineFifty names.Talus could no longer travel.That did not mean he was weak.It meant he had concentrated three centuries of survival, fear, and stolen magic into a single place.The petrified forest looked like a photograph of the world after death. Gray trunks rose without leaves. The ground was covered in compacted ash. Even the wind did not enter naturally, it bent around the area as if it remembered something we had forgotten.I felt the Balance twist.“This place isn’t dead,” I said.Amelie looked at me.“What do you feel?”“Something contained.”Selene extended a hand.Electricity crackled and died before reaching a tree.“Ancient cancellation magic.”Belial appeared beside a rock.There was no spectacle, he was simply there, and Soren almost crashed into him.“Fuck.”“Language,” Selene said automatically.Soren looked at her.“Grandma, the Devil just appeared out of nowhere.”Belial raised an eyebrow.“Acceptable defense.”Despite the tension, several people laughed.The G
ElianOne hundred three names.That was all that separated Talus from an ordinary death.It seemed like little after starting with one thousand fourteen.It also seemed like too much when we knew he was already heading toward Ash Council.Bellamy House returned to the present filled with water, broken glass, and people shouting instructions.Dad was the first to hug Mom.He did not ask permission because she was already running toward him with her arms open.Kael smiled.“They’re still intense.”“You cried when Harper came out of the distortion,” I said.“It was dust.”“Inside your eyes.”“An atmospheric phenomenon.”Harper looked at us.“Are you always like this?”“It gets worse when we’re tired,” I replied.
KaelBellamy House disappeared from the map.It did not explode.It did not sink.It simply stopped responding to every location system, portal, bond, or signal.Mom was still inside.Dad was with us in Saint River.I had never seen fear like what appeared in his eyes.He did not shout.That was worse.“Elaine,” he said. “I can feel her.”“Is she alive?” Liora asked through the channel.“Yes.”Dad closed his eyes.“But she’s far away without being far away.”Talus had folded history around the house.Amelie, Harper, Elian, and I joined the team trying to open access.Every portal ended in a different moment from the Bellamy past.One door showed the house when it was barely being built.Another opened during the war.A third revealed a room where Ornella, as a chi
ArselThe modern world discovered a new form of warfare.Audits.Over the next forty-eight hours, the Heirs of Purity lost more ground to court orders, financial leaks, and public resignations than to any armed attack.Mara managed to freeze accounts using individualized evidence.Liv gave human prosecutors records proving kidnappings, clandestine financing, and manipulation of minors.Harper recorded a statement explaining the Heritage Project and made it clear that the Vale line had been cultivated by the same men who now used the word purity.That destroyed part of the myth.Not all of it.Fanatics rarely abandoned an identity because a document appeared.But people who were simply afraid began withdrawing.It was enough to separate citizens from violent cells.During an emergency meeting of the Bridge Agreemen
Elaine“When did he find out?” I asked as I stepped on the gas pedal out of fear.I couldn't help the feeling of unease and revulsion I felt at that moment, but I had to get as far away from my tormentor as I could.“About an hour ago,” Kris said seriously. “Your mother called the orphanage asking
ElaineAt that moment, fear consumed me.I had no idea how Maxon could have found the ticket because he never touched dirty laundry due to his OCD about cleanliness. So seeing him standing in front of me, ticket in hand, dashed every last bit of hope I had.“What the hell is this, Elaine?” Maxon as
ElaineI looked at the bruise covering my cheek.It was the latest addition to an endless list of bruises that marked my skin, and I wondered when my life had turned into a living hell.A year ago, everything was normal, but one night, when my father's decisions took a new turn, reality changed abr
ElaineI opened my eyes, and the white lights blinded me again.I swallowed hard when I found myself in another hospital room, on a much larger and more comfortable bed, but with my arms hooked up to IVs. That was a complete reality check.Shit, it’s real, I thought in horror.I had lost my memorie







