Nicholas was halfway through the oldest section of the school's forbidden library when he felt it— a jolt, sudden and raw, rippling down his spine like cold water against hot skin. He dropped the book in his hands. The magic wasn't violent. Not quite. But it was new. Untamed. Personal. It wasn't the kind of casting you felt unless you were deeply tethered to the source. And he was. Tethered to her. "Elizabeth," he breathed, already moving. The book lay forgotten on the stone floor, its brittle pages fluttering in the sudden gust of wind that shouldn't have existed underground. His coat flared behind him as he pushed through the labyrinth of corridors, pulse rising—not in fear, but in urgency. Not because he thought she was hurt, but because he felt her shifting, opening, reaching toward something that might change everything. Magic like that didn't just echo. It called.
Back in the shop, Elizabeth and Lilith stood in a triangle of softly glowing salt, herbs, and folded sigils. The circle wasn't grand, but it thrummed with potential. Power hummed beneath the wooden floor, spiraling upward in waves that pressed against the shelves like whispers curling through paper and parchment. "I can feel something stirring," Elizabeth murmured. Lilith gave a quiet nod, laying out a worn map of ley lines over the counter. "You're connecting to something old. And it's responding. You're a part of this now—part of the current." Elizabeth took a slow breath. Her fingers traced the intersecting lines. "What are we looking for?" "Your lineage," Lilith said. "There's power in names, Elizabeth. Power in origin. The more you know of where your magic came from, the more control you'll have when it starts pulling you." Elizabeth glanced at the faint burn marks on the edge of the parchment. "It already is." Lilith smiled faintly. "Good. Let it. But don't let it define you. You're not a pawn. You're a storm waiting to choose where it breaks."
Just then, the door burst open. Elizabeth flinched—magic pulsing reflexively from her fingertips—until she saw him. Nicholas stood in the doorway, chest rising and falling, his dark eyes locked onto her like the rest of the world had disappeared behind him. "You felt it," she said softly. He nodded once, eyes not leaving hers. "I felt you." The shop was silent again, but not empty. Lilith didn't speak. She stepped back from the circle and gave a knowing nod. "Let's begin the next step." Nicholas stepped fully inside, the bell above the shop door clinking softly behind him like an afterthought. He didn't speak right away. His eyes moved over the circle etched into the floor, the lingering smoke from the extinguished candle, the sigils sketched in precise silver ink. Then his gaze found Elizabeth again, and everything else faded. "I was in the restricted wing," he said at last, low and steady. "Looking through the oldest records—books that predate the boarding school, the Council, even the schism between species." Lilith stilled. "And?" "I found something. Something about a bloodline of witches bound to the threshold between realms. A family line meant to anchor magic. To stabilize it when the veil between worlds gets thin." Elizabeth felt her breath catch. "You think that's me?" "I think it's always been you," Nicholas said, stepping closer. "Your power doesn't just come from study. It wants to breach the barrier between this world and the next. It draws things toward you. Spirits. Forces. People." Lilith nodded slowly. "That's why the rituals feel different when you're at the center. You don't just work the magic—you channel it."
Nicholas placed a small, crumbling page on the counter. It was torn from a book too fragile to move, the ink nearly faded. But the symbol in the center burned clear: a spiral of light and shadow around a single, open eye. Elizabeth reached for it—hesitated—then touched the page. A whisper of wind rippled through the bookshop. Nicholas met her eyes. "If we're going to survive what's coming, we need to awaken all of it. Not just your power. Your legacy." Elizabeth looked from him to Lilith, who simply gave a steady nod. "Let's do it," Elizabeth said.
They prepared the space again—this time deeper, more structured. The circle was drawn with salt, ash, and ground bone. The sigils were older than language. At the center, Elizabeth knelt with the pendant in one hand, Nicholas to her right, Lilith to her left. Each held an element—flame, water, blood. Lilith's voice cut through the quiet first, calling to the elements, the old ones, the foremothers who had first carved the runes into earth and air. Nicholas followed, speaking in a dialect he hadn't used in years, one that tasted like iron and frost. Then Elizabeth spoke. And the world listened. The circle ignited—not with fire, but with a pale, moonlit shimmer. It lifted off the floor, spinning slowly, drawing in energy from the ley lines below, the wards above, and something else—something distant, humming like a heartbeat buried in the earth. Elizabeth's eyes glowed faintly, violet and silver. Her breath caught as images surged through her mind: women in long robes, standing before ancient gates… a crown made of obsidian and light… a creature of smoke whispering her name. She saw Nicholas—young, blood-soaked, broken—kneeling before a throne made of ash. She saw Lilith standing at a crossroads, choosing loyalty over power. She saw herself, again and again, in countless lives. And then she saw the future. The veil tearing. Names spoken in fire. A betrayal. And a choice.
The circle dimmed. Elizabeth gasped and collapsed into Nicholas's arms, her skin glowing faintly like embers cooling. "I saw it," she whispered. "Everything." Lilith brushed a damp curl from Elizabeth's forehead. "Then we're running out of time." The magic had faded, but its echo still rang inside Elizabeth's chest like a distant bell. She sat now on the worn couch in the back of the bookshop, her hands wrapped around a cup of tea she hadn't touched. Nicholas crouched beside her, his hand resting on her knee. Lilith hovered by the counter, watching with the stillness of someone who knew not to push too soon. "I saw things," Elizabeth said finally, her voice low. "Not just memories—lives. Mine. Over and over." "Show us," Lilith said gently, taking the seat across from her. Elizabeth closed her eyes, letting the words flow. "There was a temple in the mountains. The stars were in different constellations, like the sky was older… or I was further away. I wore robes, and I had… students. I taught magic before it was even called that." Lilith leaned forward slightly, breath catching. "The First Flame Order." "I was part of it?" Elizabeth asked. "You were one of its founders," Lilith said softly. Nicholas's gaze sharpened. Elizabeth continued. "I saw a crown. Not a royal one… a magical one. It was forged from obsidian and light. I placed it on someone's head. A man. He was powerful. Loved me. And then he turned on everything we built." She blinked, shivering. "He looked just like Adrian."
Silence stretched thick in the room. Nicholas's jaw clenched. "You think he's the same person? Reincarnated?" "I think we're all caught in something bigger than this life," Elizabeth whispered. "The past keeps reaching for the present." She swallowed. "I saw Nicholas, too. In another life. He was kneeling before a throne made of ash. I think… I think he died for me." Nicholas looked away, jaw tightening. "That tracks." "And Lilith," Elizabeth added, turning to her cousin. "You were at a crossroads. Someone offered you something dark. You refused them… because of me." Lilith smiled softly. "I've always been good at knowing where my loyalty lies." Elizabeth looked between them both, eyes wide but calm now. "This has happened before. The three of us. This bond. But every time it ends the same—violence, betrayal, sacrifice." "And Adrian?" Nicholas asked. Elizabeth nodded. "He's always the one who tries to twist the ending." Nicholas stood abruptly, pacing now. "Then we stop him before he has the chance." "It's not that simple," Elizabeth said. "There's more coming. I saw the veil rip. Something beyond Adrian. A greater threat. Like… like this is just the prologue." The air in the room seemed to thin. "Then we don't waste time," Lilith said, standing as well. "We strengthen you. We uncover everything we can about Adrian's past lives. And we get ahead of this before it unravels." Elizabeth looked down at her hands, still tingling with magic. "For the first time," she whispered, "I'm not afraid of what I am." Nicholas stepped closer, brushing his fingers along her knuckles. "And I won't let fate take you from me again," he said. "Not this time."