The night did not fall gently over the city.
It descended like a curse.
Aira felt it before she saw it, the air thickening, the wind turning cold against her skin as though the world itself had inhaled and forgotten how to breathe. The streetlights flickered one by one, their pale glow stuttering like dying stars. Somewhere in the distance, thunder growled low and warning, but no rain followed. Only silence. Heavy. Expectant.
She stood at the edge of the old cathedral grounds, her heart pounding so violently she feared it might break free from her chest. The iron gates loomed before her, rusted and twisted like skeletal fingers reaching for the sky. This place had been abandoned for decades, yet tonight it pulsed with a presence that made her bones ache.
Raven was here.
She didn't know how she knew. She only knew she did.
Her fingers curled around the pendant at her neck—the one he had given her without explanation, the one that warmed whenever he was near and burned whenever danger approached. Tonight, it was hot against her skin, searing like a brand.
"Aira."
His voice came from the shadows, low and sharp, slicing through the silence.
She turned.
Raven stepped forward from beneath the cathedral's broken archway, moonlight catching in his dark hair and casting sharp angles across his face. He looked different tonight—more dangerous, more distant. The shadows clung to him unnaturally, wrapping around his limbs as though they were alive, as though they answered only to him.
"You shouldn't be here," he said, his crimson eyes locking onto hers. "I told you to stay away."
"You don't get to decide that anymore," Aira replied, though her voice trembled. "Not after everything you've hidden from me."
Raven's jaw tightened. For a moment, something flickered across his face, fear. Regret. Pain so deep it threatened to crack him open.
"They're coming," he said quietly. "The Order knows about you now."
Her breath caught. "About me?"
"You were never meant to be involved," he continued, stepping closer. "You were supposed to be… untouched."
The word sent a chill down her spine.
"Untouched by what?" she demanded. "By you? By the truth? Or by the darkness you keep pretending doesn't exist?"
His hand clenched at his side. "By what loving me does to people."
The ground beneath them trembled.
Aira staggered as a shockwave rippled through the air, knocking loose fragments of stone from the cathedral walls. The shadows deepened, stretching unnaturally long, pooling at their feet like spilled ink.
"They're already here," Raven muttered.
From the far end of the grounds, figures emerged, cloaked in silver and black, their movements precise, inhumanly synchronized. Their eyes glowed faintly beneath their hoods, and the sigils carved into their weapons shimmered with ancient power.
The Order of the Eclipse.
The ones who hunted beings like Raven.
And now… her.
"Aira, listen to me," Raven said urgently, gripping her wrist. His touch burned, hot, desperate. "When this starts, you run. Don't look back."
"No," she said, shaking her head. "I'm done running."
"This isn't bravery," he snapped. "This is suicide."
"Then why does it feel like destiny?" she shot back.
Before he could answer, the first blade struck.
Raven moved faster than sight, pulling her against his chest as the silver spear slammed into the stone where she had been standing. The impact sent sparks flying, the sound ringing like a scream.
The fight erupted instantly.
Raven released her and stepped forward, shadows exploding from his body in violent waves. They twisted into blades, chains, wings, whatever he willed them to be. He fought like a living nightmare, elegant and ruthless, each movement precise, deadly.
Aira watched, frozen, horror and awe tangling in her chest.
This was the Raven he had hidden from her.
This was the monster he feared she would see.
"STAY BACK!" he shouted as another attacker lunged.
But one of the cloaked figures broke away, circling her like a predator. Its eyes locked onto her pendant, glowing brighter.
"The Vessel," it hissed. "At last."
Her blood ran cold. "What did you call me?"
The figure raised its weapon, chanting words that made the air scream.
Pain tore through Aira's chest.
She collapsed to her knees, clutching the pendant as it blazed with unbearable heat. Images flooded her mind, ancient rituals, blood-soaked altars, a girl standing at the center of a circle identical to the one now forming beneath her.
"No…" she whispered. "This isn't real."
Raven felt it.
He turned just as the sigil beneath Aira ignited, crimson light spiraling upward like a cage. His eyes widened in pure terror.
"AIRA!"
He tore through the remaining attackers, shadows roaring like a storm unleashed. Blades shattered. Bodies fell. Nothing mattered except reaching her.
But the circle flared brighter, repelling him with a force so violent it sent him crashing into the cathedral wall.
"Aira!" His voice broke.
She screamed as the power inside her awakened.
It wasn't darkness.
It was something older.
The pendant shattered, shards cutting into her skin as crimson light poured from her chest, wrapping around her like living fire. Her veins glowed beneath her skin, and symbols she had never seen before burned into her flesh.
The Order members fell to their knees in reverence.
"The Crimson Heart has awakened," one whispered.
Aira's scream tore the sky apart.
And then, silence.
The light vanished.
She collapsed.
Raven reached her just in time to catch her before she hit the ground.
Her body was burning hot, trembling violently in his arms. Blood trickled from the corner of her lips, and her lashes fluttered weakly.
"Aira… stay with me," he pleaded, pressing his forehead to hers. "Please."
Her eyes opened slowly.
But they were no longer the same.
Where soft brown once was, crimson now glowed faintly, reflecting the moonlight like liquid fire.
Raven froze.
She lifted a trembling hand, touching his cheek. "Raven…" Her voice echoed, layered with something not entirely human. "Why does it hurt to breathe when you're afraid?"
Tears slid down his face before he could stop them. "Because I love you."
Her fingers curled into his coat. "Then don't let them take me."
"I won't," he swore. "Even if it means the world burns."
The remaining Order members retreated, fear finally breaking their discipline.
"This changes everything," one warned before vanishing into the shadows. "She belongs to the Crimson now."
The night grew quiet again.
Raven held Aira close, rocking her gently as though she were made of glass. He knew the truth now, had always known but refused to face it.
She was not just human.
She was the key to an ancient power even he feared.
And loving her had sealed both their fates.
Above them, the moon burned red.
And somewhere deep within Aira's heart, the darkness had finally chosen her.