But I said nothing.
Because I remembered the terror too. Yuna stirred, lashes fluttering open. Their eyes met — and Taeyang’s breath stuttered. His hand hovered near her face but didn’t move. Not yet.
“You saved me,” she rasped.
Taeyang looked away.
“Don’t thank me.”
Yuna smiled, weak and teasing.
“Too late.”
And that was when he picked her up — carefully, like she was something sacred. His arms locked around her protectively, and I saw it happen again:
The faintest shimmer of light beneath his collarbone. The beginning of a second flame.
Some bonds are forged in fire.Some in blood.And some — like his — in the moment you look into a storm…And realize it has eyes only for you.
--------???--------
The war was over.
But the reckoning had just begun.
We stood in the smoking ruins of the Guild’s sanctuary, silence settling like ash around us. The screams had stopped. The magic had died. All that remained were broken walls, broken men, and broken truths.
In my arms, Seori was unconscious — her heartbeat steady but slow. To my right, Taeyang was silent, cradling Yuna like a lifeline. His expression was unreadable, but the glowing bond beneath his skin spoke for him. But it was Jisoo who hadn’t moved.
I followed his gaze.
Minji lay in the corner of the ritual chamber, her arms curled protectively around her middle, unconscious. Her face was smeared with blood. One eye swollen shut. There were deep gashes along her ribs, and something darker — something cruel — about the way her wrists were bound with silver wire.
They’d tortured her. They’d tried to break her.
And Jisoo… hadsnapped.He stood over the last Guild interrogator — a high priest with blood down his chin and fear frozen in his eyes.
“You touched her.” Jisoo’s voice wasnot human.
“Youcuther.”
The priest whimpered, crawling back against the altar.
“How dare you… touchher.”
With a flick of his wrist, the priest’s body exploded into ash — disintegrated from the inside out by Jisoo’s burning sigils. The scent of sulfur and holy fire filled the chamber.
“Jisoo,” I said sharply, stepping forward.
His eyes were glowing gold — his wings out, full and terrible.Fallen angel no longer.He was what the heavens abandoned… and hell would never fully claim.
“Jisoo,look at her.”
His chest heaved.
“I said —look at her.”
He turned.
