Chapter 5 – The One Who Should Be Dead
Lira
The mark is still pulsing.
Even after the enemies fell. Even after the gate opened. It’s like it doesn’t want to let go of him. Rael. Or maybe… me.
We haven’t said anything since the trial. He walks two steps behind, like he’s still deciding whether to trust me or run. Typical. That connection—whatever it was—rattled him more than the fight did.
It rattled me too.
But I won’t show it.
The waiting chamber hums as more fighters are brought in—survivors from other trials. Most are bruised. Some bleeding. One is laughing like they don’t know what fear is.
Then the temperature drops.
Or maybe it’s just me.
Because walking through the gate, casual as ever, is Kael Rennick.
Tall. Pale. Snake-slick smile.
And unmistakably alive.
I grip the hilt of my blade so hard my knuckles ache.
He shouldn’t be here. He shouldn’t be alive. I saw the report. I filed it myself. Kael Rennick—my former partner in the Syndicate, my rival, my betrayal—was executed after the Ember Cross Massacre.
Yet here he is, blood-marked and grinning like sin.
“Well well,” he purrs, eyes locking onto mine. “Didn’t expect to see you in the flesh, Lira. Let alone with a pet.”
Rael’s eyes flick to me, then to Kael. “You know him?”
“I did,” I mutter. “Before he sold out an entire faction to save himself.”
Kael shrugs like it's a compliment. “Still bitter? We make the choices we must. I lived. You survived. And now we’re all family in the arena.”
Rael steps forward slightly, his jaw tight. “You want something?”
Kael eyes him like a cat sizing up prey. “Just curious what kind of connection the arena's cooking up between you two. You look... untested. Breakable.”
“We passed our trial,” I snap. “You?”
Kael just smiles. “Mine begged for mercy.”
I don't respond. I can’t. My heart’s thudding too loud.
Because Kael’s presence means two things.
One—he made a deal with something worse than death.
And two—he knows what happened that night. The truth I buried. The secret I killed for.
Rael doesn’t know it yet, but he just got pulled into a war far bloodier than the arena wants us to believe.
Chapter 6 – The Ember Cross Massacre
Lira — Two Years Ago
I told myself it wasn’t betrayal.
It was strategy.
Survival.
Just another mission.
But that night—that night—is burned into me deeper than any sigil.
We were the Syndicate’s top pairing—Kael Rennick, the manipulator, the charmer, the liar. And me—the blade. The one who cleaned up the blood and never asked where it came from.
The Ember Cross compound was supposed to be a clean job. Infiltrate. Extract. Leave no trace. But Kael had other plans.
The alarms went off ten minutes early.
Children screaming.
Men falling.
Blood everywhere.
By the time I reached the inner sanctum, Kael was already there—standing over the body of our contact, her throat slit. His hands weren’t even shaking.
“Why?” I asked him, my voice ice.
He didn’t even blink. “Because chaos gets you noticed. And I’m tired of being in the shadows.”
“You sold us out.”
“I upgraded us.”
He stepped forward, touched my cheek with bloodied fingers. “You’re better than this. Than them. Come with me.”
I should’ve killed him then.
But I hesitated. And in that hesitation, he smiled.
The Syndicate marked him for execution. I made sure the report buried him deep.
Even forged the name of the one who dealt the final blow.
Me.
Because if I couldn’t kill him… I had to erase him.
And now he’s back. Breathing. Watching me with that same crooked smile.
Rael doesn’t know any of this. Not yet.
But if Kael’s here, it’s not for the prize. It’s for me.
And I won’t let him drag me down again.
