All Chapters of Incubus Reborn: Sleepless promise: Chapter 21 - Chapter 26

Seraphina woke to the sound of her own breathing—shallow, uneven. The infirmary walls glowed with a soft violet light that wasn’t there before, casting long shadows over the shelves and cots. Her hand drifted toward her chest, where the rune still pulsed like a second heartbeat, dim but present.The room was quiet, too quiet.She sat up slowly, her muscles aching as though she’d run a marathon in her sleep. The sheets stuck to her back, damp with sweat. Something had shifted. She could feel it—like the air was thicker, charged.Then she heard the creak.She turned.Lucan stood by the doorway, partially shrouded in shadow. His coat was torn at the shoulder, his knuckles scraped raw. He didn’t say anything. He just looked at her, like he wasn’t sure if she was real.“You’re hurt,” she whispered, pushing off the bed.He stepped back when she approached. Not far. Just enough to stop her.“I’m fine,” he said, his voice too soft. “You’re the one who—”“I’m fine too,” she interrupted. “Bette

The rain outside Duskmoor Academy had slowed to a mist, but inside Seraphina’s chest, a storm still raged. She stood in the dusty tower’s stairwell, hands gripping the railing so tightly her knuckles ached. Dreams, curses, lifetimes—how could a single life hold so much weight?Shadows pressed in around her. The rune on her palm pulsed, hotter now, its warmth sinking deeper than skin. It made her hand feel heavy—like she was carrying some ancient burden.She hadn’t seen Lucan since the last dreamwalk. He was absent from the library, the halls, even her thoughts. That absence terrified her—not because he was gone, but because he wasn’t trying to stop her anymore.Silence filled the corridors like fog. She pushed open the heavy oak door to the Hall of Echoes. Duskmoor’s halls were always hushed, but tonight, they seemed alive—listening. Her footsteps echoed. Lanterns overhead flickered one by one, as if turning to watch.Then came footsteps that were not hers.Cael appeared at the far en

Seraphina’s fingers drummed on the ruined altar’s edge as Lucan knelt beside her.“Are you breathing?” he asked.Her laugh came out uneven. “Barely.”He touched her forehead. “You did it.”Dust motes drifted in the moonlight through the shattered ceiling. The air felt lighter—charge gone, silence heavy.“I thought we’d die,” Seraphina whispered.Lucan gave her a stiff smile. “Not on my watch.”A flicker in the shadows caught her eye. Astra emerged, silent and sure.“It is done,” she said, clearing her throat. “The fissure is sealed.”Seraphina exhaled, shoulders slumping. “I can’t believe it.”Lucan rose slowly, brushing ash from his coat. “Neither can I.”They turned toward Astra, who held a torn fragment of rune—smoldering faintly.“This piece,” Astra said evenly, “needs to go in the archives. It belongs to history.”Seraphina touched the fragment carefully. “We destroyed the altar, but this stayed behind?”“It’s part of the mechanism,” Astra explained. “Buried too deep to vanish en