Even if she puts a blade through my heart the moment she sees me. Because now I’m sure. She’s not just my fated mate.
She’s the end of the war I’ve been fighting inside myself for centuries. And if she walks away… there may be nothing left of me to save.
I have lived lifetimes with no softness. No mercy. No peace. But now I dream of her. And I’d burn the world just to dream again.
Seori
A Slip in the Shadows
"Focus, Seori."
Minji’s voice cut through the fog in my head—sharp, grounding—but it barely held. The alley stank of rain-rotted trash and ash, but all I could smell was him. All I could feel was the sear of Rheon’s mark when our eyes met. The flicker of recognition. The burn.
I’d barely slept. Not since our last encounter. Not since my blade met his, and something inside me didn’t screamkill… it whisperedstay.
We were hunting a minor chaos demon in the broken ruins near Hongdae. Yuna took point, her faeinstincts guiding her toward the pulse of magic. Minji flanked our right, every step measured, deadly. And me?
I was trailing behind like a ghost. Haunted. Distracted. Off-balance.
“Does she evenseethe trail?” Minji muttered.
I forced myself forward.
“I’m fine.”
Minji glanced back, unimpressed.
“You’re not evenhere, Seori.”
A hum rose in the air—tainted magic. Yuna raised a hand.
“It’s close.”
We fanned out. I gripped my blade tighter, sweat slicking the hilt.
Then everything unraveled.
A demon lunged from the rooftops above—fast and silent. I looked up andfroze.
Not from fear. Fromrecognition.
Crimson eyes. A flash of darkness. A mark burning into skin.
Rheon.
No—not him. But the echo of him cracked through me like lightning.
I couldn’t move.
And then—
Steel sliced the air. Minji.
She barreled into the demon, knocking it off course and sinking her blade into its ribcage. A shriek split the air as it scrambled away, bleeding into the shadows.
Minji rounded on me, fury in her face.
“What thehell, Seori?!”
