Aria's POV
The man who used to be a cat grabbed my arm, yanking me backward just as black claws sliced through the air where my head had been.
"Move!" he shouted.
I couldn't move. I couldn't think. My brain was stuck on one impossible fact: my cat just turned into a person.
Another claw swiped at us. This time, the man—Finn, he'd called himself Finn—pulled me behind him. His hand started glowing with the same silver light from before, and when he punched the shadow creature, it exploded into smoke.
"Aria, I need you to focus!" Finn spun around, gripping my shoulders. His silver eyes were desperate. "I know this is confusing, but those things will kill you if we don't run. Can you run?"
I nodded, even though I wasn't sure my legs would work.
"Good. Stay close to me."
More tears appeared in the air—that's the only way I could describe it. Like someone was cutting holes in the world itself. Shadow monsters poured through, each one more terrifying than the last. They had too many arms, too many teeth, eyes that glowed red in the darkness.
Finn's hands blazed with silver light. Every monster he touched disintegrated, but there were so many of them. Way too many.
"There's too many!" I screamed as one lunged at me.
Finn spun and destroyed it, but three more took its place. We were surrounded. Trapped on the bridge with monsters closing in from every direction.
"I'm sorry," Finn panted, backing up until we were pressed against the bridge railing. "I'm not strong enough. I can't—"
"Well, well," a voice hissed from the largest tear in reality. "The little Guardian, finally awake."
A figure stepped through. It wasn't completely solid—more like living shadow shaped like a man. Its eyes burned red, and when it smiled, I saw rows of needle-sharp teeth.
"Who are you?" My voice shook.
"Lord Malachar," the shadow creature said with a mocking bow. "And you, my dear, are exactly what I've been searching for."
Finn positioned himself in front of me. "You can't have her."
"Can't I?" Malachar laughed, a sound like breaking glass. "Look around, little familiar. You're outmatched. Outnumbered. And she's too weak to fight. This will be easy."
The monsters moved closer. I could smell them now—like rotting meat and sulfur. My stomach churned.
This was it. I was going to die on this bridge. After everything—the betrayal, the humiliation, losing everything I had—I was going to get eaten by shadow monsters.
"I'm scared," I whispered to Finn.
"I know," he said quietly. "Close your eyes. It'll be quick."
I closed my eyes.
Then—cold. Deep, bone-freezing cold that made me gasp.
I opened my eyes.
Darkness exploded across the bridge like a tidal wave. Not the sick, rotting darkness of the monsters. This was different—clean and sharp and powerful, like the night sky itself had come alive.
A man stood between us and Malachar.
I couldn't see his face clearly at first. The darkness swirled around him like a cloak. But then he turned slightly, and moonlight caught his profile.
He was the most beautiful person I'd ever seen.
Tall. Powerful. With black hair that seemed to absorb light and eyes that glowed silver—even brighter than Finn's. He wore dark clothes that looked expensive, and when he moved, shadows moved with him like they were part of his body.
"Malachar," the man said, his voice deep and cold. "You were forbidden from the human realm."
"Kael." Malachar's confidence faltered. "I didn't expect—"
"Leave. Now."
"But the Guardian—"
"Is under my protection." The man—Kael—raised one hand. Shadows shot from his palm like spears, impaling three monsters at once. They screamed and dissolved into nothing. "Anyone who touches her answers to me."
The air pressure changed. Even I could feel it—this crushing weight of power rolling off Kael in waves. My knees almost buckled.
Malachar's red eyes narrowed. "This isn't over, Sovereign. She will be mine."
"Try again, and I'll make sure you never reform." Kael's voice dropped to a deadly whisper. "Go."
For a moment, I thought Malachar would attack. But then he hissed in frustration and retreated back through the tear in reality. His monsters followed, scurrying away like rats.
The tears sealed shut. Reality knitted back together. Suddenly, the bridge was just a normal bridge again.
Except for the impossibly handsome man standing in front of us, surrounded by living shadows.
Kael turned to face me.
Up close, he was even more striking. Sharp cheekbones. Strong jaw. Those silver eyes that seemed to look right through me. But despite everything I'd just seen—the violence, the power, the way he'd destroyed those monsters without breaking a sweat—when he looked at me, his expression softened.
"You're hurt," he said, reaching toward my arm.
I looked down. A shadow creature had scratched me. Blood soaked through my sleeve. Funny—I hadn't even felt it.
"It's not bad," I stammered.
"It's bad enough." Kael's jaw tightened. "Finn, you were supposed to protect her."
"I tried!" Finn protested. "But the seal broke earlier than expected, and they tracked her immediately. I couldn't—"
"Enough." Kael held up a hand. He stepped closer to me, and I smelled something like winter nights and pine trees. "May I?"
"May you what?"
"Heal you. It'll hurt less if I do it now."
I nodded, too shocked to argue.
Kael placed his hand over the wound. His palm was warm despite the cold darkness around him. Dark energy flowed from his hand into my arm—it tingled but didn't hurt. When he pulled away, the scratch was gone.
"How did you—"
"There's a lot to explain," Kael said gently. "But not here. Not in the open. More will come." He glanced at Finn. "Can she walk?"
"I think so?"
"I can walk," I said, finding my voice. "But I'm not going anywhere until someone tells me what's happening. Why did my cat turn into a person? What were those monsters? Who are you? And what did that thing mean when it called me a Guardian?"
Kael and Finn exchanged looks.
"It's time," Finn said. "She needs to know everything."
Kael studied me for a long moment. In his silver eyes, I saw something that looked like sadness. Or maybe guilt.
"Your whole life has been a lie, Aria," he said quietly. "Everything you thought you knew about yourself—it's wrong."
"What do you mean?"
"You're not human. You never were."
The world tilted. "That's impossible."
"Your mother was a Guardian," Kael continued. "A protector of both the human and supernatural realms. Born with incredible power. When you were five years old, she sealed your abilities to protect you from people who would hurt you—people like Malachar. But seals don't last forever. They break when a Guardian turns eighteen."
I shook my head. This was insane. "No. No, I'm just—I'm just Aria. I work at a coffee shop. I go to school. I'm nobody special."
"You were never nobody," Finn said softly. "I've been watching over you since you were five years old. Protecting you. Waiting for this day."
"The day I turned eighteen," I whispered.
"The day your power woke up," Kael corrected. "Which is why Malachar and his creatures attacked. They can sense it now. They'll keep coming until they capture you or—"
"Or kill me," I finished.
"I won't let that happen." Kael's voice was firm. "Your mother saved my life once, many years ago. I promised her that if anything happened to her, I would protect you. I've been searching for you for thirteen years."
Tears burned my eyes. This was too much. Way too much. My birthday had started with betrayal and humiliation, and now I was learning I wasn't even human?
"I can't do this," I choked out. "I just want to go home."
"You don't have a home to go back to," Finn said gently. "Your family made sure of that."
He was right. The papers I'd signed. Ryan's betrayal. Victoria's accusations. They'd taken everything.
I had nowhere to go.
"Come with me," Kael said. His voice was gentle despite his scary appearance. "I can offer you sanctuary. A safe place to learn about your powers. To understand what you are. No one will hurt you there. I promise."
"Why should I trust you?" I asked. "I don't even know you."
"You shouldn't trust me." Kael's honesty surprised me. "You shouldn't trust anyone after what was done to you tonight. But right now, you have two choices: come with me to safety, or stay here and wait for more monsters to attack. Because they will attack, Aria. Over and over until they get what they want."
As if to prove his point, I felt something change in the air. That heavy, wrong feeling from before the monsters appeared.
Finn tensed. "They're coming back. We need to go. Now."
Kael extended his hand to me. "I know you're scared. I know this seems impossible. But please, let me help you."
I stared at his hand. Everything in me screamed not to trust anyone. Not after tonight.
But then I looked into his silver eyes and saw something I hadn't seen all day from anyone: genuine concern. Like he actually cared whether I lived or died.
The air ripped open again. Shadow creatures poured through.
I grabbed Kael's hand.
"Hold on tight," he said.
Darkness swallowed us whole.
The world dissolved. I felt like I was falling through space, through time, through reality itself. I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. Could only hold onto Kael's hand like it was the only solid thing in existence.
Then—light.
We crashed through onto solid ground. I fell to my knees, gasping for air.
When I looked up, my breath caught.
We weren't on Earth anymore. We couldn't be.
The sky had two moons.