**Kaels’s pov** That night, I couldn’t sleep, I lay awake staring at the ceiling of my room, listening to the silence of the palace. Everything should have felt peaceful, I was home, my family was alive, Adrian was nearby, Lyra was here, and ny training was progressing well. Yet something felt wrong, I kept thinking about Aurora. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her disappearing, the flash of magic, the broken seal, her hand slipping from mine, then nothing. I sat up, because I couldn’t stay in bed, I needed answers. I grabbed my coat and left my room, the palace corridors were almost completely dark. I walked toward the eastern library, hoping I might find another record concerning the First King. The library doors opened quietly, then I entered. Hundreds of ancient books surrounded me, I lit a candle and began searching. Hours passed, I found nothing. I found information about ancient seals, but they were nothing useful. Old records concerning the First K

**Kael’s pov** I couldn’t stop thinking about Duskbane, his explanation hadn’t cleared him, but it had created another possibility. Someone had wanted us to find those records, someone had wanted Duskbane to look guilty. And if that was true… then the real traitor was still free. I returned to the palace library and spent hours studying the evidence, but I found nothing. Every trail led back to Duskbane, too neatly. That bothered me, because a real traitor would make mistakes, but this was almost perfect. I was still staring at the documents when Lyra walked in.“You’ve been here all morning.”I looked up.“I’ve been busy.”She smiled. “I can see that.”She sat beside me. “Did you find Aurora?”“Not yet.”“But you know where she is.”I nodded.“She’s in the Kingdom of Shadows.”Lyra’s expression softened. “Then we’ll get her back.”I looked at her. “You keep saying that.”“Because I mean it.” She reached for my hand, but I didn’t pull away. Her fingers slipped between m

**Aurora’s pov** I stared at the figure in the mirror. They stood completely still, their face remained hidden beneath a dark hood, I couldn’t tell whether they were male or female, but there was something familiar about the silhouette, something that made my stomach twist.“Who are you?” The figure didn’t answer, instead, they raised a hand, the image changed, I saw myself sleeping in the small room near the northern district, then myself eating beside the fountain, then myself reading in the library. The figure had watched everything, every day, every moment, they knew what I had discovered, they knew how long I had been here, they knew I was searching for a way home. My breathing became shallow.“How are you doing this?”The figure finally spoke. “Because I was there when you were taken.”My eyes widened. “You were there?”“Closer than you realize.” They responded The mirror went dark, so I stepped backward. “Wait!” I heard nothing, the image disappeared comple

**Kaels pov** The student dropped to his knees, Adrian stepped toward him.“It’s over.”“No.”The student whispered. “It isn’t.” His voice sounded different, older, I exchanged a glance with Lyra, then with Adrian. Something was terribly wrong, the student slowly lifted his head, his eyes were no longer crimson or golden. They were black… completely black, I felt the Primordial Blood react inside me. It wasn’t fear, it was recognition, I took a step backward.“No.”Father noticed my reaction. “Kael?”“I know that energy.” The student smiled, it wasn’t his smile, it belonged to someone else. A dark pressure filled the courtyard, every vampire instinct in my body screamed at me to run, but I stayed.The student looked at me. “You shouldn’t have returned.”My blood froze. Those weren’t the words of a student, they were the words of someone who knew me, someone who knew about my rebirth, someone who knew what I was.“Who are you?”The student tilted his head. “You alre

**Kaels pov** I ran, I didn’t wait for Father, neither did Adrian or Lyra. The scream had come from the western corridor, guards were already rushing in that direction.“What happened?” Father demanded.“We don’t know!” We reached the corridor, a group of guards stood outside one of the archive rooms, one of them pointed toward the door.“The room was locked.”“Open it.” The doors were pushed open, there was nothing, the room was empty. I stepped inside, bookshelves lined every wall, scrolls covered the tables, but nothing appeared disturbed. Then I noticed something, a single book lay open on the floor. I crouched, the title made my stomach twist.“THE FOURFOLD EXPERIMENTS.”I picked it up.Father immediately came beside me. “What is that?”“I don’t know.” When I opened the book, the first page contained drawings about vampire anatomy, werewolf anatomy, witch magical channels, wizard magical channels, then there was a fifth diagram of all four combined. My breathi