Rain hammered the city like judgment. The streets shimmered with reflections of neon and thunder, every flash of lightning cutting the sky open like a wound.Yeshua Yael stood outside the black iron gates of Florence’s mansion, a takeout box trembling in his hands. Steam rose from the cracks, her favorite meal. The one he used to make when love still meant something. The intercom buzzed. A voice, tired and polite, answered. “Who is it?”“It’s me,” Yeshua said softly. “Tell Florence I brought dinner.”A pause. Then the housekeeper sighed. “Sir, Madam said she doesn’t want to be disturbed tonight.”The rain came harder, tracing cold lines down his face. “Please,” he whispered. “Just… tell her I’m here.”Silence. Then a click. The line died. He stayed there, gripping the box until heat bit his palms. He had no umbrella, no pride left to protect. Just the stubborn, dying hope that maybe, tonight, she’d remember him.Through the half-drawn curtains upstairs, golden light spilled onto the

Evening draped Dominion City in molten gold. Skyscrapers flared against the dying light, and somewhere high above them, the Dominion Tower cut into the clouds like a blade.Yeshua arrived first. The tower’s lobby was silent except for the low hum of machines and the echo of rain on glass. A marble sigil, the same circle of wings that burned under his skin, spread across the floor. He felt it vibrate through his boots.A voice greeted him from the shadows of the elevator bank. “Still punctual,” Gideon said, stepping forward. “Even after everything.”Yeshua’s jaw tightened. “You could have sent a message through someone else.”“You wouldn’t have come.” Gideon’s smile was thin. “And we both know you needed to.”The elevator doors opened with a soft chime. Gideon gestured upward. “The Council wants to meet their miracle.”“I’m not a miracle.”“Tell that to the dead man who’s breathing again.”They rode in silence. The elevator climbed fast, too fast, its walls reflecting their uneasy fac

The wind carried a metallic taste, sharp as blood. Rails groaned beneath invisible weight while silver eyes multiplied in the dark.Jessica’s hunters moved with drilled precision, forming a wide ring around Yeshua and Florence. Radiant symbols blazed under their boots, weaving a lattice of light. Jessica’s voice was steady but urgent. “Keep them outside the seal! No hesitation!”Yeshua stepped forward until he stood on the circle’s edge. “They’re not demons,” he said quietly. “They’re echoes, souls twisted by what the Watcher touched.”Jessica shot him a glance. “Then show me how you save echoes.”The first of the creatures lunged. Its body looked human until it hit the light; then the mask peeled back and something without shape screamed. The barrier shuddered.Yeshua extended his hand. Golden lines erupted from the sigil on his wrist, weaving through the hunters’ lattice like veins of sunlight. The field stabilized.For one surreal moment, time slowed. Florence watched him, watched

The light pulsed once, then fractured the floor. A thunderous crack split the nave; marble buckled and gave way to a shaft of blinding radiance that poured upward from the depths below.The guards staggered back. One fell to his knees, sobbing. Leah’s staff clattered to the floor, its carvings blazing with symbols that hadn’t glowed since the first Dominion age.“Beneath the altar,” she breathed. “It was never just stone.”The radiance thinned, revealing a spiral staircase descending into the earth, each step carved with runes older than any tongue still spoken. A whisper slid through the air, too soft for the soldiers but clear to Yeshua alone. “Come down, Heir. The Covenant waits.”He moved toward the stairs. Jessica grabbed his sleeve. “You don’t know what’s down there.”“I think I do,” he said. “And it’s calling me.”Florence stepped beside him. “Then you’re not going alone.”Leah nodded once, eyes shining with something between pride and dread. “Go, both of you. The rest of us w