Elena's body jerked awake, her pulse hammering in her ears.
Something wasn't right.
She lay still, her senses reaching outward, searching for what had disturbed her. The air in her room was unnaturally cold, a slow, creeping chill seeping through her blankets and clinging to her skin. Her breath came out in soft, white mist.
She bolted upright.
The window across the room was open.
The heavy glass pane, which she was sure she had locked before bed, had been pushed up, revealing the dark cityscape of Ithrenis beyond. Wind whispered through the opening, but there was no sign of a storm outside. No breeze, no movement.
And yet—something had been here.
Elena reached for her dagger under her pillow, her grip tightening around the hilt.
Then she felt it.
A presence.
Standing at the foot of her bed.
She turned her head slowly, the shadows in the room stretching unnaturally, deepening.
And then—she saw him.
Adrian.
He stood motionless, his skin sickly pale, his lips colorless. His eyes—black. Completely void, as if they had been scooped out and replaced with the abyss.
He shouldn't be here.
He was in Halcythra.
He was unconscious.
This wasn't real.
And yet, his voice was unmistakable when he spoke.
"You have to leave."
Her throat went dry.
His voice was wrong. Like multiple voices layered over each other, some whispers, some screams.
"They know what you are."
Before she could move, his head snapped toward her. His lips curled, revealing too many teeth—jagged, sharp. His hand shot forward, grabbing her wrist.
His fingers were ice.
Her vision fractured.
A black void opened beneath her, swallowing her whole.
She was falling—falling—
And then—
She woke up.
Elena gasped, clutching her chest, her body drenched in sweat.
Just a nightmare.
She exhaled, steadying herself—
Until she looked at her arm.
Three deep, jagged claw marks ran down her wrist.
Her breath caught in her throat.
The nightmare had touched her.
And her window?
Still wide open.
---
**A Warning from the Shadows**
The next morning, Elena kept her sleeves pulled down as she walked through the Athenaeum's halls, her mind racing.
Had that really been Adrian? Or something else—something pretending to be him?
A ripple of tension ran through the students as she passed. Whispered conversations, anxious glances.
Then she heard it.
"Three students were found dead last night."
Elena stopped walking.
"Their bodies… they were drained of blood."
A sick feeling curled in her stomach.
"And they had marks on them. Strange markings—like they were carved into their skin."
Her mind flashed back to her arm.
To the claw marks.
Her fingers tightened into a fist.
Someone was watching her.
She turned.
A student stood nearby, leaning casually against the pillar, his hood drawn over his head. His golden eyes locked onto hers.
He had been watching her for days.
This time, he spoke.
"This school isn't what you think it is, Elena."
Her pulse spiked.
"They're using us. And now they've found you."
She took a step forward. "Who's 'they'?"
He exhaled, glancing around before lowering his voice.
"Meet me at the forbidden archives at midnight. I'll explain everything."
And then—he was gone.
---
**The Cursed Book**
Elena didn't know why she agreed.
Maybe it was curiosity. Maybe it was fear.
Either way, she found herself sneaking through the silent halls of the Athenaeum that night, moving toward the underground chambers where the forbidden archives were kept.
She reached the entrance, pushing open the ancient wooden doors.
Inside, the library was dark. Too dark. The kind of darkness that seemed unnatural—watching.
Kai stood near the center, waiting.
"Come on," he whispered, leading her deeper.
Rows of ancient tomes stretched endlessly, their covers bound in materials she didn't recognize. Some whispered as she passed. Others pulsed—as if alive.
Kai stopped in front of a single pedestal.
A book sat there, chained and locked.
The cover looked like skin.
Not leather. Skin.
Elena swallowed. "What is this?"
Kai hesitated. Then:
"Your answer."
He reached forward, unfastening the chain.
The moment he touched it, the air cracked.
Elena's magic flared violently, her vision going white.
She wasn't in the library anymore.
She was standing in the past.
A girl kneeled in a candlelit room, her hands trembling as she traced symbols in the air.
She was performing Soulbinding.
But something was wrong.
The symbols burned into her skin. Her veins turned black.
Then—she screamed.
And a voice—cold, ancient— whispered:
"She who binds souls shall walk between life and death, but never belong to either."
The girl's body snapped backward.
The darkness swallowed her whole.
Then—
Elena woke up.
Gasping.
Kai was shaking her.
"What did you see?" he demanded.
Her hands were shaking.
"Something terrible," she whispered.
---
**The Betrayal**
Before Kai could answer—
A voice cut through the room.
"You were never supposed to see this."
Elena and Kai froze.
Master Veyra stood behind them.
Her eyes burned with something unreadable.
Kai's expression shifted.
From fear—to something else.
Before Elena could react, Kai moved.
Fast.
His hand shot toward the nearest spell seal, activating it. The entire room exploded into chaos—books flew off the shelves, runes igniting in eerie green flames.
The walls shifted, closing in.
Elena ran.
A spectral hand grabbed her ankle.
Fire shot up her leg—not fire, but pain. Something marked her.
She didn't stop.
She escaped.
But as she reached her quarters, gasping for air, her sleeve burned away.
And there—on her skin—
The same marking the dead students had.
---
**The Bloodmarked Have Found Her**
The next night, a blood-red moon rose over Ithrenis.
A hooded figure entered the Athenaeum.
Every professor in the building stiffened.
The figure walked to the center of the hall, raising a single scroll.
"The Bloodmarked has awakened."
Silence.
Every head turned.
Every single person in the room was looking at Elena.
Her blood ran cold.
She had been hunted, betrayed, and haunted.
But now—
Now she was claimed.