Dev blinked rapidly, looking from the suspended rocks to Kiara's blazing eyes as if he couldn't understand any of it.
"W–what's going on?" he stammered, taking a shaky step back. "How… how are these rocks even flying?"
His performance was almost flawless—almost.
Kiara sensed the subtle slip in his voice, the faintest tremor of someone who wasn't shocked… but annoyed at being exposed.
Vikram rushed forward, hand extended.
"Kiara, calm down. Beta, listen to me. You're losing control."
"No, Dad!" Kiara snapped, her breath coming in tight bursts as the debris around her trembled harder. "He's pretending. He's been pretending since the moment he entered this house. Today, I bring out his truth."
Her voice dropped, cold and resolute.
"Jai Bholenath."
Before anyone could stop her, Kiara thrust her hand forward.
A telekinetic force exploded from her palm.
Dev's eyes widened—this time, not in fake confusion but raw disbelief—as the invisible blast hurled him backward. His body lifted off the terrace, flipping violently over the railing.
"DEV!" the entire family screamed as he disappeared from sight.
Bhoomi rushed to Kiara, gripping her arms.
"What have you done, Kiara? Are you out of your mind?!"
Kiara didn't flinch. Her expression was disturbingly calm, almost calculated.
"Don't worry, Mother-in-law," she said softly, though her eyes still burned with power. "If he's truly a divine being, he'll save himself. And if he isn't… he still won't die."
The family stared at her, stunned.
Kiara raised her chin slightly.
"I've placed a magical barrier below. He'll never hit the ground. But he won't know that."
A hush fell over the terrace.
Then—
A roar of fire split the air.
Everyone turned sharply as blazing orange flames shot upward from beyond the terrace wall, swirling like a rising inferno. The heat kissed their faces, wind whipping around them in violent spirals.
And then—
Dev rose into view.
Hovering.
Wreathed in fire.
Eyes glowing like molten gold.
The flames curled around him like obedient serpents.
He landed before them in a burst of heat, his feet touching the terrace tiles with a soft thud. The fire around him dimmed but did not disappear; it coiled around his arms, flickering like living shadows.
Dev looked directly at Kiara.
"You're right," he said calmly, his voice deeper… older… powerful.
"I am a divine being. Just like you."
A final ember flared behind him as he declared:
"I am Agnishwa,The Lord of fire🔥."
Silence fell—deep, stunned, breathless.
The family stared at him, their world turned upside down in the span of seconds.
Kiara's heartbeat thundered in her ears, her own divine aura crackling in response to his.
Two divine beings.
Face to face.
For the first time.
Deep inside the dimly lit cave, Varun dragged his hand across the cold, damp wall, leaving a trail in the dust. He and Dilruba had been walking for what felt like hours—yet somehow, every turn brought them back to the same circular chamber with the same jagged rock formation in the center.
Varun stopped abruptly, exhaling sharply.
"This is ridiculous," he muttered, raking a hand through his hair. "It's a labyrinth. A magical one. We're going in circles."
Dilruba, however, was not frustrated. She looked… delighted.
Varun turned, narrowing his eyes at her expression.
"What?" he snapped. "Why are you smiling like that? We're trapped."
Dilruba clasped her hands behind her back, rocking on her heels with the innocence of someone who absolutely wasn't innocent.
"Because," she said, blinking at him sweetly, "in movies and stories, whenever a boy and a belle get lost alone in a cave… something something always happens."
Varun stared at her, stunned.
"Something something?" he repeated.
She nodded enthusiastically.
"Yes! Something something!"
Varun threw his hands up.
"Well, something something is not going to happen between us!" he snapped. "So wake up from your fairy-tale dream—or witch-tale dream—whatever nonsense dream you're living in."
Dilruba pouted dramatically.
"You're no fun."
Varun glared, turning away and scanning the cave walls again for a hidden exit.
"Fun won't get us to the Cave of Answers," he grumbled. "And I need to reach it before the cycle closes."
But when he glanced back, Dilruba was still smiling at him—wide-eyed, mischievous, and utterly thrilled to be stuck in a labyrinth with him.
And that, somehow, annoyed him even more.
To be continued....