Aria's POV
Lyanna's voice echoes through the tower again, and I feel like I'm going to be sick.
"You have one minute, Aria! Then we're coming in!"
"She brought an army to kill you," Kael says, moving to the window. His jaw clenches. "At least fifty fighters, maybe more. All armed with anti-magic weapons."
"Why?" The word comes out broken. "Why does she hate me this much?"
"Because you're everything she's afraid of being." Kael turns to face me, and his violet eyes flash with something dangerous. "Powerful. Special. Impossible to ignore."
Footsteps pound up the stairs outside. They're close. Too close.
"Can you fight?" Kael asks.
I look down at my shaking hands. The elements flicker around me weakly—I used too much power in the amphitheater, and now I'm running on empty. "I don't even know how to control this."
"Then we run."
"To where? You said yourself there's nowhere safe!"
A massive fireball explodes against the tower's outer wall. The whole building shudders. Cracks spread across the black volcanic glass like spiderwebs.
Kael grabs my arm, and that Soul Bond flares between us—his determination flooding into me like liquid courage. "Listen to me carefully. I'm going to teleport us, but my shadow magic won't work properly with your elemental storm interfering. You need to pull your power inside. Contain it."
"I don't know how!"
"Yes, you do." His grip tightens. "You've been containing yourself your whole life. Being small, being quiet, being invisible. Do that now, but with your magic."
The door explodes inward. Five figures burst through, wrapped in protective gear and carrying weapons that glow with anti-magic runes. I recognize the one in front—Damien, my ex-fiancé, his hands wreathed in flames.
"There you are, freak," he snarls.
Kael steps in front of me, shadow magic erupting from his body like black wings. "Leave. Now."
"The Nightshade prince, protecting a monster?" Damien laughs. "Your father will hear about this betrayal."
"My father," Kael says coldly, "doesn't give orders to crown heirs. And neither do you."
More fighters pour into the room. I count eight, ten, twelve. We're surrounded.
"Last chance, Aria," Lyanna's voice calls from the hallway. She won't even face me herself. "Surrender, and we'll make your death quick."
Something inside me snaps.
I'm done being afraid. Done being small. Done letting people who never cared about me decide my fate.
The elements around me pulse brighter. Fire, water, earth, air, spirit—they respond to my anger like it's fuel.
"Aria, no!" Kael shouts, but it's too late.
I throw my hands forward, and all five elements explode outward at once.
It's not controlled. It's not elegant. It's pure chaos—a wall of mixed magic that slams into Damien and his fighters like a hammer. They fly backward, crashing into walls and each other. One man's anti-magic weapon shatters. Another's protective gear melts.
I didn't mean to hit them that hard. I just wanted them to stop.
But the power doesn't stop when they do. It keeps growing, feeding on itself, turning the room into a whirlwind of elemental destruction. The floor cracks. The ceiling groans. This whole tower is going to collapse, and I can't stop it.
"Aria!" Kael grabs both my hands, and the Soul Bond flares so bright it hurts. His Spirit magic pours into me—not fighting my power, but guiding it. Shaping it. Showing it how to calm down.
For one impossible moment, I feel what he feels through our connection: concern for my safety, fury at the attackers, and underneath it all, a strange wonder. He's not afraid of my power. He's amazed by it.
The elements slow, then settle, then finally pull back into my body like they're going to sleep.
I collapse against Kael, exhausted. He catches me easily, one arm around my waist.
"Impossible," Damien wheezes from where he's slumped against the wall. "She's too dangerous to live!"
"Then it's a good thing," Kael says softly, "that she's under my protection now."
Before anyone can respond, shadows explode from Kael's body—so much darker and stronger than before. They wrap around both of us like a cocoon, and I feel the tower starting to disappear.
"Wait!" Lyanna's voice, closer now. She must have finally worked up the courage to enter the room. "You can't just take her! She belongs to House Thornheart!"
Kael's laugh is dark and dangerous. "She belongs to no one. Least of all you."
The shadows finish swallowing us. The tower vanishes.
For a moment, we're suspended in absolute darkness—just me and Kael and the Soul Bond humming between us like a living thing. I feel weightless, formless, like I'm being unmade and remade at the same time.
Then we slam back into reality.
We appear in a completely different place—a massive bedroom carved from the same black volcanic glass, but this one has windows overlooking a city lit by magical lights. The bed is enormous. Bookshelves line the walls. And I realize with a jolt that this must be Kael's personal chamber.
"This is—" I start.
"The only place in the tower with protective enchantments strong enough to hide your magical signature," Kael finishes. He's still holding me, and he doesn't seem to realize it. "They'll search for hours before checking here."
I should step away. Put distance between us. But I'm shaking so hard I might fall if he lets go.
Through our bond, I feel his exhaustion matching mine. Teleporting two people took everything he had.
"Thank you," I whisper. "For saving me. Again."
"Don't thank me yet." His voice is rough. "This isn't over. Lyanna won't stop. The Purge Coalition won't stop. And now that you've shown them what you can do, every kingdom will be hunting you."
"So what do we do?"
Kael finally steps back, and I immediately miss his warmth. He walks to the window, staring out at the city below.
"We have two choices," he says quietly. "I can hide you here forever, keeping you locked away like a weapon too dangerous to use. Or..."
"Or what?"
He turns, and the look in his violet eyes makes my breath catch.
"Or I teach you to control your power. Make you strong enough that no one will dare attack you. Turn you from a frightened girl into something they'll fear for the right reasons."
"Why would you do that?" I ask. "Why risk everything for someone you just met?"
Kael crosses the room in three strides. He stops close enough that I have to tilt my head back to meet his eyes. Through our Soul Bond, I feel emotions swirling too fast to name.
"Because," he says, "I've been dreaming about you for two years. And in every dream where you die, the world ends. But in the dreams where you survive—where you're strong and powerful and fully yourself—the world transforms into something better."
My heart pounds. "Which dream is real?"
"I don't know." His hand lifts like he wants to touch my face, then drops. "But I'm going to make damn sure it's not the one where you die."
A knock sounds at the door—sharp, urgent.
"Prince Nightshade," a guard's voice calls. "Your father demands to speak with you. Immediately. He's sent a royal summons."
Kael's face hardens. "Tell him I'm busy."
"He says if you don't come, he'll come here. With an army."
Through our Soul Bond, I feel Kael's fear spike—not for himself, but for me.
"Your father wants me dead," I realize.
"Everyone wants you dead," Kael corrects grimly. "But my father has the power to actually make it happen."
The guard knocks again. "My lord, he's waiting."
Kael looks at me, conflict written across his face. Then he does something that shocks me—he takes my hand and threads our fingers together.
"What are you—" I start.
"If I'm going to defy my father and protect you," he interrupts, "then I'm doing it properly. No more hiding. No more pretending."
"Kael, you'll lose everything."
"I know." He squeezes my hand. "But losing you feels worse."
The words hang between us, impossible and terrifying.
Then Kael turns to the door and says the words that will change both our lives forever:
"Tell my father I'm on my way. And tell him I'm bringing the Pentaelemental with me."