The pain came suddenly.
Sharp. Burning. Spreading.
Luna cried out, clutching her wrist as the mark flared brighter, its glow pulsing like a living thing beneath her skin. I felt it too deep in my bones, like a warning screamed by my blood.
This wasn't just a curse.
It was a beacon.
The shadows around us twisted, stretching unnaturally along the walls. The air grew heavy, thick with dread. My heart pounded as a familiar presence crept closer.
The monster.
It appeared again, its form stitched together from darkness and smoke, eyes glowing with hunger. Fear wrapped around me, cold and suffocating but I forced myself to stand.
Luna tried to move, but her body betrayed her. She was weak. The mark burned hotter, feeding whatever hunted us.
"Do you know why the mark is on you?" I asked again, my voice low, urgent.
Silence followed.
Her lips trembled. She wanted to speak, but pain stole her breath. When she finally did, her voice was barely a whisper.
"It's… my father's rival."
She swallowed hard.
"Mark."
The name shattered something inside me.
Mark.
The man who murdered my mother without hesitation.
The man who destroyed my life and forced me into twenty years of isolation, hiding, surviving, waiting.
Rage surged through me, hotter than fear.
So now he was hunting her too.
Using her pain. Using her blood. Drawing monsters to her like prey.
The shadow creature shifted closer, drawn to the mark's glow. I stepped in front of Luna without thinking, placing myself between her and the darkness.
Mark wasn't just chasing her.
He was calling me out.
And this time, I wasn't running.
tightened my grip on my blade as the shadows closed in. If Mark thought he could use her to lure me out, then he had made a fatal mistake. I had already lost my mother to him I would not lose Luna too. Let the monsters come. Let Mark watch from the dark. This time, I was ready to hunt back.