You will not die until the blood of your mate runs down your blade…
I tried to rise from the bed, tried to shatter this cursed stillness. But nothing moved. Nothing but the agony in my heart.
Seori… come back to me.
Before I lose you to the world I tried to burn down.
Seori
Threaded in Silence
The moon hung heavy in the sky — dim, as if mourning. The others slept in shifts, but I didn’t have the luxury of rest. My mind was racing. My soul... aching.
Jisoo had just finished laying the salt wards and binding charms. Taeyang inspected the twin demon-blades he’d strapped across his back. The Gate would be ready by dawn.
I pulled my long black coat tighter over my frame, the folds hiding the sacred dagger tucked against my thigh — a blade etched in silver, blessed by a fallen angel, and cursed by demon blood.
A weapon meant to end kings.
But before anything else… I needed to see him.
He lay still on the pallet, skin pale against the sheets, strands of raven-black hair falling across his forehead. There was no sign of his usual fire — just quiet, and the rise and fall of breath that barely filled his chest.
I crouched beside him and reached out, brushing the hair away.
“I know you’d hate this,” I whispered, voice breaking. “Me walking into your father’s realm while you lie here like this.”
His mark burned faintly on his chest — soft, steady, like itknewI was near.
“But I’ll come back, Rheon. I swear it.”
I leaned forward and pressed my lips gently to the edge of the mark.
“You don’t get to burn for me if I don’t get to burn for you too.”
When I stood, I caught movement at the far end of the room.
Jisoo.
He was half in shadow, crouched beside Minji’s cot. She stirred lightly, her brow furrowed in sleep. Even unconscious, she seemed to feel him.
Jisoo just… stared. His usually smug, sharp expression softened into something more human. His hand hovered over her shoulder but never quite touched.
His chest glowed faintly.
The mate mark.
I’d seen that light before — on Rheon, in the shrine. On Taeyang, when Yuna smiled at him like he was more than just a weapon.
Turning slightly, I spotted Taeyang now too.
Leaning against the wall near the window, arms crossed, eyes locked on Yuna as she murmured in her sleep. His hand — clenched tightly over his heart.
He didn't understand it yet, but I did. They were allchanging.All of us were.
Fate wasn’t gentle. It was cruel, wild, and consuming. But it had chosen us. And now… it was our turn to choose back.
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