***
Darkness.
It wasn't just the absence of light—it was the kind that clung to your skin, heavy and smothering. I blinked, reaching out for anything real. A hand—warm and firm—snatched mine.
Seraphine's voice cut through the dark. "Desmond. Breathe."
I sucked in air like I'd been drowning. The shadows evaporated, peeling back to reveal cracked walls and broken neon signs flickering beyond the shattered hotel window. My doppelgänger—my future self or whatever the hell he was—was gone.
No broken glass. No scar-faced warning. Just Seraphine and Kray looking at me like I'd grown horns.
"Did you see that?" I rasped.
Kray nodded slowly. "Bro, that was… you."
"What the hell does it mean?" I asked.
Seraphine's mouth tightened. "It means time's running out."
***
We moved fast after that. Seraphine insisted on staying off the main grid. No magic use. No rune lighting. Not even a psychic whisper. "They can track you through anything now," she said. "Your blood sings, Desmond. You're a beacon."
While she mapped out safe houses, I stared at the faint rune still glowing on my wrist. It pulsed like a second heartbeat—one that didn't beat for this world. I wasn't sure who I was anymore. Heir? Weapon? Or warning?
But then, things got more complicated.
We arrived at a black market enclave hidden beneath a collapsed subway tunnel. A place where the laws of men and mages meant nothing. Wards lit the air in blue fire, and scent of incense masked the rot. Vendors sold blood potions, enchanted ammo, even cursed relics.
And that's where we met her.
***
Her name was Lilika, a half-witch, half-siren hybrid who ran a shadow shop dealing in lost identities. She had curves that challenged the laws of physics and a voice that slipped into your mind like silk soaked in sin.
Her eyes, pitch black with a glint of mischief, locked onto mine the moment I stepped through her veil of hanging beads. "So this is the infamous heir I've been hearing whispers about," she purred.
I narrowed my eyes. "You hear a lot of whispers?"
"I hear everything, darling. Including things you don't want said aloud."
She waved her hand, and the beads closed behind us, leaving Kray and Seraphine outside.
"She's dangerous," Seraphine said, her voice muffled through the ward. "Don't trust her."
"Never do," I replied.
But I followed Lilika anyway.
Her lair was all velvet, candles, and enchanted smoke that tickled the skin. "Sit," she said, lounging across an enormous purple couch. I didn't sit—I paced. She watched me like I was a meal she couldn't wait to unwrap.
"You've seen him, haven't you?" she asked.
"You mean the future me?"
She smiled. "You're not the first heir to face himself."
"What am I? A clone? A prophecy glitch?"
"No," she said, standing. "You're a crossroad."
Then she stepped closer, heat radiating from her body. She pressed a hand against my chest. "Your future isn't fixed. It's… temptable."
Her lips brushed mine, soft and slow.
I told myself to pull back.
But I didn't.
The kiss deepened. Her mouth was wild, like fire licking down to my bones. My hands tangled in her hair. Her body slid against mine, all curves and danger, the scent of magic and lust wrapping around us.
"Your blood is powerful," she whispered, biting my lower lip gently. "It calls to every dark thing in me."
She pushed me down onto the couch. Her tongue danced with mine, wicked and teasing. Her fingers traced the glowing rune on my wrist, making it blaze white-hot. I groaned under her touch, torn between pleasure and panic.
Then suddenly—pain.
A sharp stab into my chest.
I gasped.
Lilika grinned. "Had to make sure it's really you."
She pulled out a tiny silver blade coated in black rune-dust. My skin hissed where it pierced me. She licked the blade and nodded.
"Confirmed. Heir blood. Pure. Ancient."
Before I could react, Seraphine burst through the curtain, sword in hand.
Lilika only laughed. "Relax, warrior princess. I didn't kill him. Just... sampled him."
Seraphine shoved her aside and pulled me up. "We're leaving. Now."
But Lilika's voice followed us out. "Watch your bond, Desmond. Lust is cheap. Legacy is expensive."
***
Back at our hideout, Seraphine was furious.
"You let her touch you?" she snapped.
"I didn't exactly plan on it."
"She could've killed you!"
"She could've done a lot more than that," I muttered, rubbing my still-burning chest.
She glared at me. "And you would've let her."
The heat between us cracked into something sharp.
"You're jealous," I said before I could stop myself.
She froze.
"I'm what?"
"You heard me. You're not angry because she hurt me. You're angry because she touched me."
Her silence was louder than any argument.
I took a step closer. "I didn't ask for any of this. Not the magic. Not the bloodline. Not the war. But here we are. And you keep standing close enough to kill me or kiss me, and I'm not sure which one it'll be."
She looked up at me, eyes dark with something ancient. "Maybe it'll be both."
And then, she kissed me again—harder this time, with the force of everything we weren't saying. Her hands clutched my shirt, yanking me against her. I lifted her onto the counter, lips trailing fire along her throat. Her moans curled in my ear like spells.
It was desperate. Hot. And real.
But just as I slid her jacket down, a loud boom rocked the building.
Walls shook.
Lights blew out.
Kray stumbled in, blood on his shirt. "They're here."
Seraphine jumped off the counter, fury in her eyes and blades in her hands.
I looked out the window.
Black trench coats. Dozens.
And leading them... was me.
Not scarred. Not old.
Not future.
But another me.
Clean-shaven. Regal armor. Crown of black bone.
"What the hell is happening?" I whispered.
Seraphine looked at me, pale. "They're not all visions. That... might be a fractured self."
"A what?"
"Every heir splits at the first awakening. Some stay hidden. Some get hunted. But others—others take thrones that don't belong to them."
My double lifted a hand, and the sky cracked open with lightning.
Kray screamed, "He's summoning beasts!"
Hellhounds crawled out of the shadows, jaws dripping voidfire.
Seraphine tossed me a blade. "No more running. If you don't kill him... he becomes you."