LOGINPercy went back to flipping through the case files and scribbling notes. He was tightening up every last detail before tomorrow's trial. This case was too big, and his client had too much riding on it for anything less. But he didn't know that the fractured memories he kept shoving aside weren't hallucinations at all. They were real memories that were sealed away for a thousand years. And he had no idea that Aria was already on her way to him to crack open all of those buried memories. She wanted to bring him back into the fold as the fourth apprentice of Hollowlight Sect so that he could stand with his fellow apprentices to rescue Thayne and avenge their sect. His office door remained shut. Sunlight poured through the large windows and spilled across the desk, lighting up the thick case files and the focused lines of Percy's profile. Down the same building, a black car pulled up to the curb. Aria and Landon stepped out. They looked up toward the 28th floor and started walking
The hospital room was drowned in grief, anger, and guilt. Whatever warmth their reunion had carried was gone now, smashed apart by one horrible revelation after another. All that was left was a rage for everyone they'd lost and the raw, aching horror of what Thayne had been through. His voice came out rough and low, but every single word hit hard. "Sylas lost his humanity a long time ago, and there's no forgiving what he's done. I don't care what it costs. We'll get Mr. Granger back and make that bastard pay in blood!" "I owe Mr. Granger everything, so I'm definitely getting him out and settling this score. If we're not strong enough right now, then we train until we are. We'll track down Percy, Jeffrey, and Leon to pull together every bit of power we've got. We'll make Sylas pay even if it takes everything we have!" "Yeah! We'll save Mr. Granger, kill Sylas, and make him pay for what they did to our sect! We couldn't hold it together last time around, but in this life, I'd do wh
The warmth in Elijah's eyes was gone. All that was left was focus and alertness for whatever Aria was about to tell them. He knew better than anyone that the catastrophe that had wiped out Hollowlight Sect had to have something darker behind it. On the bed, Rafael had finally started to settle down. His eyes were still red around the edges, and there were tears that he hadn't wiped away. He could still feel the warmth of his brothers' hands from when they'd recognized each other. He'd been leaning back against the head of the bed. After hearing what Aria said, his body slowly straightened up. One of his hands fisted into the blanket hard enough that his knuckles went pale. There was still some fatigue of just having woken up on his face, but his eyes had gone sharp in an instant. His proud and fierce self from his past life had risen back up as he stared at Aria. His head was full of questions about what had happened to the sect and about who had really been behind the catastro
Off to the side, Landon let his jaw slowly relax as he watched the whole thing. There was nothing but care and relief in his eyes. He stepped forward without saying a word and slipped an arm around Aria's shoulders to give her something to lean on. He was offering his own silent blessing to Aria and Rafael after everything they'd been through across both their lives. On the bed, Rafael gripped Aria's hand back hard. His body was still weak, but there was nothing weak about the look in his eyes. He looked at Aria and made himself a quiet promise. In this life, he would be both her older brother and her fellow apprentice from Hollowlight Sect. It didn't matter whether it was the life before or the one they were living now, and it didn't matter what hell they had to walk through. He would keep her safe and stay with her through all of it. Together, they would set right every regret and hold on to everyone who mattered, and nothing would ever pull them apart again. Out in the hal
Rafael had never met any of these people or been part of any of these events. The warmth of those days and the brutal endings that came after were not his to live through. And yet all of it sat inside him as if it had been there since the day he was born. Every scene, every look on his fellow apprentices' faces, and the words they had shared all came back to him with painful clarity. He finally understood that this wasn't someone else's story. It was his own past life. They were memories sealed in the deepest part of his soul, the kind that no number of lifetimes would ever be enough to erase. The warmth had been the happiness he once held, and the pain had been a regret he could never make right. As for the young woman he had shielded behind his back, she was the fellow apprentice he had given his life to protect in that past life and ultimately failed to save. She had come back to him in this life as Aria, the sister he doted on with everything he had. So the stories in those
Landon held Aria's hand tightly, applying gentle pressure with his fingertips to reassure her silently. He spoke softly. "The hospital has been updating us on his condition the entire time. The ambulance just arrived, and they're running tests now. If we head over now, the timing will be perfect."Landon had already arranged everything in advance. The moment he learned that Rafael had fallen unconscious, he contacted the hospital's best doctors and personally oversaw every step of the examination process. He didn't want Aria worrying more than necessary.When Aria heard that, her concern for Rafael deepened; her brows furrowed slightly, and anxiety flickered in her eyes. She still remembered what Fergus and Elijah had gone through when their memories awakened. It had not been an easy process. She feared Rafael might suffer even more. She tightened her grip on Landon's hand, her voice soft but filled with concern. "I just hope Rafael is only feeling unwell. If he's going through w
The Krowonian doll had planned to possess Hedeon so it could get closer to Landon and get rid of him. Upon second thought, it thought it'd be better to feed on a few more souls, as its power had not been fully restored.Hedeon nodded heavily. "Sure, Almighty One! I'll get some young women for you.
Only then did Leland remember what had happened a few days earlier. Back then, he had been in high spirits, exhilarated by the fact that he was now in control of a small nation. It was the first time in his life he had tasted such power. Drunk on that sense of supremacy, he had celebrated with sev
It was a call from an unknown Janovin number. Aria frowned. Only a handful of people had her phone number.Still, she answered. "Hello?"Sonia's voice came through the speaker."Hello," she said softly, sounding lost. "May I know who's speaking? I found a business card and called the number becau
Aria and Landon stood in front of the stage. When she saw Elijah's long-lost smile, her lips finally curved into a faint smile of her own."And it's done," Landon said. "I've always been impressed with Elijah. He has never once used his status as the second son of the Carver family throughout his a







