Semua Bab Incubus Reborn: Sleepless promise: Bab 31 - Bab 40

The air was thick with fog, curling between the trees like it had a mind of its own.Lucan walked beside Seraphina, his hand brushing hers every few steps. “Do you feel it?” he asked quietly.“I feel… watched.”The woods behind Duskmoor had always been forbidden. Not because of rules, but because of instinct. Even the birds didn’t sing here.Seraphina paused near a tree with deep claw marks in the bark. She reached out and touched them, fingertips grazing the old, twisted grooves. “These weren’t made by an animal.”Lucan didn’t respond right away. When he did, his voice was low. “They weren’t. That was me. A long time ago.”She turned. “In another life?”“In this one.”They stared at each other, something silent passing between them.“When the dreams started bleeding into reality,” he said, “I lost time. Nights went missing. Woke up in places I didn’t remember going. That’s why I never leave campus anymore.”Seraphina stepped closer. “You think it was the Sleepless One controlling you

The cold from the ruins hadn’t faded, even with the sunlight slanting through the broken archways. Seraphina stood still, shoulders tense, as if the stone beneath her feet could give way at any moment. Behind her, the dream-temple loomed silent now, as though it had released a breath it had been holding for centuries.Lucan stepped up beside her, his coat rustling faintly in the wind. “It’s quiet.”She nodded without looking at him. “Too quiet.”Astra was just a few steps behind, her gaze flicking around the courtyard like she expected something or someone to leap from the shadows.“I don’t think it’s over,” Seraphina said softly. “The vow may have changed, but the Academy… it won’t accept that so easily.”Lucan’s eyes were steady. “Which is why we need proof.”Astra moved forward, boots scuffing against the worn stone. “The Archivist,” she said. “You want to wake her.”Seraphina glanced back at the temple. “It’s the only way.”Lucan was already pulling the ancient ritual tablet from

The hallway was still humming, alive with the static that always followed Seraphina’s dreams. It clung to her skin like electricity after a storm. Her footsteps echoed, and every shadow around her seemed to lean in, listening.“Lucan—” she stopped herself just as she turned the corridor and saw him.He was sitting on the edge of the abandoned astronomy room’s window ledge, his head bowed, sleeves rolled up to the elbows, bruises still blooming along his forearms. But it wasn’t the bruises that stopped her.It was the gold.The veins beneath his skin glowed faintly—golden, like threads of sunlight had woven themselves into his blood.Lucan looked up slowly. His eyes weren’t glowing like they did in dreams, but they were full of something else. Panic. And pain.“You weren’t supposed to see this,” he said quietly.“I wasn’t supposed to remember you either,” Seraphina replied, closing the distance. “But here we are.”His jaw tightened. “You saw the mark again, didn’t you?”“I don’t think

The cold wind stung Seraphina’s skin as she stood outside the ruins of the east wing, the faint scent of ash and burning herbs still lingering in the air. The dream,wound on her wrist pulsed again—subtle, almost a whisper,but it was enough to make her flinch.Lucan stepped beside her without a sound. “It’s waking again.”She didn’t ask how he knew. He always knew.Seraphina looked up at him, her jaw tight. “I can feel it… inside me. Like it’s folding itself around my soul.”Lucan nodded grimly. “The closer we get to the temple, the more it will try to reclaim you.”Behind them, Astra emerged from the archway, brushing soot from her sleeves. “We don’t have long. The ritual site is nearly exposed. If the Sleepless One senses what we’re doing”“It already does,” Lucan cut in sharply. “It’s just waiting for her to crack.”Seraphina’s hand clenched. “I won’t.”Astra’s gaze softened, but only slightly. “You say that now. But if the past lives start bleeding through again,memories that aren’

Lucan’s voice was hoarse as he stood in the shadow of the sigil-lit chamber. “You weren’t supposed to find that memory.”Seraphina backed away from the shimmering vision still echoing between the cracked stones of the wall. “But I did. I saw her. The other me… with you. And her name wasn’t Seraphina.”“Because it wasn’t you. Not exactly,” Lucan said, jaw clenched.“You said there were others—seven lives. That I died each time. But this…” She swallowed. “That woman… she begged you to stop the ritual. She was afraid of you.”Lucan stepped forward, hands slightly raised. “It’s not what it looked like. You have to understand, the past isn’t always what you remember.”“Was that why she died?” she asked. Her voice cracked. “Did you kill her?”The silence was a scream. He didn’t look away. That was worse.“I didn’t have a choice.”“You always have a choice!” she shouted.Magic pulsed around her like a heartbeat. The rune on her chest glowed through the thin fabric of her blouse. Lucan’s eyes