Sera's POV
I wake up to the feeling of falling.
My eyes snap open. Sky. Bright blue sky rushing past. Wind screaming in my ears. And Kaine's arms wrapped tight around me, his dark wings spread wide, trying to slow our fall.
"You're awake," he says, relief flooding through the bond between us. "Good. I need you to hold on."
"Where are we?" I scream over the wind.
"No idea. Your portal threw us somewhere random."
The ground is getting closer. Fast. We're aimed at a city—buildings and streets and people who are starting to look up and point at us.
"Can't you fly?" I ask, panic rising.
"These wings are made of shadow. They slow falls. They don't stop them." His jaw is tight. "Brace yourself. This is going to hurt."
We hit the roof of a building hard. Kaine twists at the last second, taking the impact with his back. We crash through the rooftop into what looks like an abandoned warehouse, smashing through rotten wood and old boxes before finally stopping.
Everything hurts.
I groan, rolling off Kaine. My shoulder throbs. My head pounds. But I'm alive. We're both alive.
Kaine sits up slowly, checking himself for injuries. His shirt is torn, revealing pale skin already healing from cuts and bruises. "Are you hurt?"
"Everything hurts, but nothing's broken, I think." I touch my head and my hand comes away with blood. "Maybe a little broken."
He's beside me in a second, his hand glowing with that silver light. He touches my forehead and warmth spreads through me. The pain fades. When he pulls his hand away, the bleeding has stopped.
"You can heal people?" I ask in wonder.
"Minor injuries. Your skull wasn't fractured, just cut." He stands, offering me his hand. "We need to move. Dorian knows where we landed the moment we came through. He'll be following."
I take his hand, and the bond sparks between us again. It's getting stronger. I can feel his worry, his guilt about dragging me into this mess, his determination to keep me alive.
"Your brother," I say as he pulls me to my feet. "He's really alive?"
Kaine's expression goes cold. "Apparently."
"And he wants to use me?"
"He wants your power. Realm Walkers can break cosmic bonds, rewrite the laws that chain beings to specific realms." He starts walking toward a door in the warehouse. "He's trapped in the Shadowlands. He needs you to free him."
"What happens if he gets free?"
Kaine stops, looking back at me. "Nothing good. Before his supposed death, Dorian tried to overthrow the cosmic order. He wanted to rule all realms. That's why the higher powers cursed both of us—me to be their executioner, him to die. But he survived somehow."
"So he's dangerous."
"Extremely."
We exit the warehouse into an alley. I look around, trying to figure out where we are. The signs are in English, but the architecture is different from New York. Old brick buildings. Narrow streets. A church spire in the distance.
"Where are we?" I ask.
"Boston, I think." Kaine scans the area, alert. "Your power sent us about two hundred miles north."
My power. Right. The golden light that exploded out of me. I look at my hands like they belong to someone else. "I didn't mean to do that. I don't even know how I did it."
"Your Realm Walker abilities are waking up. Blood activated them—your blood on the box, mixing with your tears. Strong emotion triggers the power." He glances at me. "You need training. Without it, you'll burn yourself out every time you use your abilities."
"Can you train me?"
"No. I'm immortal. You're mortal with different magic. But I know someone who might help." He pulls out a phone—where did he get a phone?—and dials a number.
"Who are you calling?"
"Someone I trust. The only person I trust." He lifts the phone to his ear. "Thorne. I need extraction. Boston. Yes, it's urgent. No, I can't come through a portal. I'm with—" He pauses, and I can hear shouting from the other end. "Just get here. Fast."
He hangs up. "Thorne is my second-in-command. He'll take us somewhere safe."
"Safe from your psycho brother?"
"Hopefully."
We start walking, staying in the shadows. People pass by on the main street, living their normal lives. Going to work. Getting coffee. No idea that monsters and immortals exist.
I was one of them yesterday. Normal. Invisible. My biggest problem was my terrible family.
Now I'm running for my life with an ancient immortal, hunted by demons, and apparently full of dangerous magical power.
"This is insane," I mutter.
"Yes," Kaine agrees simply.
"Yesterday my sister stole my research presentation. That was my crisis. That was the worst thing happening to me."
"And now?"
"Now I'm wanted by demons, bonded to an immortal I just met, and being chased by your supposedly-dead brother who wants to use me to take over the world."
"Essentially accurate."
I laugh. It comes out slightly hysterical. "My life is a nightmare."
Kaine stops walking. He turns to face me fully, and for the first time since I met him, his expression softens just a little.
"I know this is overwhelming. I know you didn't ask for any of this." His voice is quieter now, almost gentle. "But you're handling it better than most would. You're brave."
"I'm terrified."
"Being brave doesn't mean not being scared. It means being scared and doing it anyway." He hesitates, then adds, "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. You freed me from that box, and I've brought nothing but danger into your life."
Through the bond, I feel the truth of his words. The guilt. The regret. But also something else—gratitude. He's been trapped and empty for so long, and somehow I gave him feelings back.
"It's not your fault," I say. "I'm the idiot who opened the scary box covered in warnings."
Almost a smile crosses his face. Almost.
Then his head snaps up, eyes going wide. "Run."
"What?"
"RUN!"
He grabs my hand and we sprint down the alley. Behind us, the air tears open with a horrible ripping sound. Demons pour through—not three or five, but dozens. All of them screaming for the Realm Walker.
We burst onto the main street. People scream and scatter. Cars screech to a halt.
"Where's Thorne?" I gasp.
"Not here yet." Kaine spins, putting himself between me and the demons. His hands start glowing. "Stay behind me."
But there are too many. They spread out, surrounding us on all sides. People are still running and screaming. Someone's filming on their phone.
This is about to become very public.
"Kaine," I whisper, fear choking me. "There are too many."
"I know."
The lead demon steps forward, bigger than the others. "Give us the Realm Walker, Fallen Sovereign. You can't protect her forever."
"Watch me try."
The demon laughs. "So noble. So foolish. Tell me—what happens to her when you die? Because that's how this ends."
Kaine doesn't answer. But through the bond, I feel his fear. Real fear. He doesn't think we're getting out of this.
I look around desperately. Trapped. Surrounded. No way out.
Then I see it. A woman across the street, half-hidden in a doorway, watching us. She's different from the panicking crowds. Calm. Focused. Her eyes meet mine, and something about her feels... familiar. Safe.
She mouths one word: "Portal."
Before I can question it, she throws something at our feet. A small stone that explodes into light, opening another dimensional tear beneath us.
Kaine and I drop through, the demons' screams following us down.
We tumble into darkness again, but this time it's different. Controlled. We land on solid ground after just a few seconds.
When my eyes adjust, I realize we're in a massive crystal hall. Beautiful and cold and alien.
The woman who threw the stone steps through a portal behind us, closing it quickly.
"Welcome to the Veil Court," she says, smiling. "I'm Thorne. Well, technically Lady Thorne. And you must be the mortal who's turned my world upside down."
She looks at Kaine. "You bonded with a human? A Realm Walker human? Brother, you really don't do anything halfway, do you?"
"Brother?" I repeat, looking between them.
Kaine sighs. "I should clarify. Thorne isn't actually male. And she's not my second-in-command. She's my sister."
"Your sister?"
"My very annoying, very powerful sister who's been pretending to be a man for three thousand years."
Thorne grins. "The patriarchy is easier to manipulate when they think you're one of them."
I stare at her. At Kaine. At the impossible crystal castle.
"I need to sit down," I say faintly.
"Later," Thorne says, her smile vanishing. "We have a bigger problem. The bond between you two just announced itself to every realm in existence. The Celestial Order has called an emergency council. They're voting right now on whether to kill you both."
"What?" I gasp.
"The vote started five minutes ago." Thorne looks grim. "We have maybe an hour before they come to execute the sentence. Whatever it is."
Kaine's hand finds mine, squeezing tight.
Through the bond, I feel his determination.
"Then we have an hour," he says quietly, "to figure out how to survive."