Updated Nov 20, 2025 • ~8 min read
Morning came too soon.
Liana woke on the couch, disoriented and stiff, to the smell of coffee and the sound of low voices. For a second, she forgot where she was. Then it all came crashing back: the Wraiths, the prophecy, the bond.
Kaelen.
She sat up, scrubbing sleep from her eyes. Across the room, Kaelen stood with Suki, examining something on a tablet. He’d changed clothes—where he’d gotten them, Liana had no idea—and looked like he’d actually slept, which seemed unfair since Liana felt like she’d been hit by a truck.
Through the bond, she could feel him. Awake. Alert. Anxious about what came next.
“Coffee’s on the counter,” Maya said, appearing with two mugs. She handed one to Liana and dropped onto the couch beside her. “How are you feeling?”
“Like my entire worldview got demolished and rebuilt overnight.”
“Yeah. That tracks.” Maya sipped her coffee, then made a face. “God, this is terrible.”
“Emergency rations,” Suki called from across the room. “Not exactly gourmet.”
Liana forced herself to stand, joints protesting. Every muscle ached. “What time is it?”
“Nearly nine.” Kaelen finally looked at her, and the bond flared with awareness. “The Wraiths cleared out about two hours ago. It’s safe to go topside.”
“And then what?”
“Then we test the bond.” Suki set down the tablet. “See what you two can actually do together. The Council’s set up a testing facility on the north side—warded, protected. Other bonded pairs are there too.”
Liana’s stomach clenched. “More people like us?”
“Seventeen pairs confirmed so far in the city. Probably hundreds worldwide.” Suki’s expression was grim. “Most are still in denial. Refusing to accept the bond. But a few have started training.”
“And you?” Liana looked between Suki and Maya. “Are you going to test too?”
Maya bit her lip. “We’re going to try. Suki thinks I might have defensive abilities. Something about the pattern of my mark.”
Kaelen moved closer, and Liana’s whole body went on high alert. The bond pulled taut between them, humming with potential.
“We should go,” he said. “The sooner we know what we’re working with, the better.”
Liana wanted to argue. Wanted to go home, pretend this wasn’t happening, return to her normal life. But normal was gone. The Wraiths had made sure of that.
“Fine,” she said. “Let’s do this.”
The testing facility was an old warehouse that had been converted into something between a gymnasium and a laboratory. Council technicians moved between equipment stations, taking readings and making notes. And scattered throughout the space were other pairs—people standing awkwardly with their supposed soulmates, looking anywhere but at each other.
Liana recognized the fear. The resistance. She felt it herself.
A Council representative met them at the entrance—a middle-aged man with warm brown skin and kind eyes. “I’m Councilor Thorne. Welcome. You must be Liana and Kaelen.”
“How did you—”
“Your marks are distinctive. Also, Kaelen is fairly well known in certain circles.” Thorne smiled. “Starborn warrior, trained since childhood. You’re something of a legend.”
Kaelen’s expression went flat. “I’m not here for PR. Just tell us what to do.”
Thorne didn’t seem offended. “Fair enough. This way.”
He led them to a section of the warehouse that had been cleared and marked with chalk symbols. A circle, maybe twenty feet across, with intricate patterns radiating from its center.
“Stand inside,” Thorne instructed. “Facing each other.”
Liana exchanged a look with Kaelen, then stepped into the circle. He followed, stopping a few feet away. Close enough that she could see the flecks of darker gray in his silver eyes. Close enough that the bond between them was a constant presence.
“Now what?” Liana asked.
“Now you try to connect.” Thorne moved to a monitoring station just outside the circle. “The bond exists, but most pairs don’t know how to access it intentionally. We need to see if you can.”
“How?”
“However feels right. Some pairs find it easier with physical contact. Others prefer meditation. There’s no wrong way.”
Kaelen held out his hand. “We already know contact amplifies the connection.”
Liana stared at his outstretched palm. “That’s it? We just hold hands?”
“It’s a start.”
She reached out slowly, and the moment their fingers touched, the world exploded with light.
Not external light. Internal. Liana felt it flooding through her—through the bond, through her mark, through every cell in her body. It was power, pure and overwhelming, like she’d grabbed hold of a live wire made of stars.
Through it, she felt Kaelen. Not just his emotions—everything. His heartbeat matching hers. His thoughts brushing against her consciousness. The memories he kept locked away. The pain. The loneliness. The absolute terror that he would fail her the way he’d failed everyone else.
“Liana.” His voice was strained. “Pull back. You’re going too deep.”
But she couldn’t pull back. The connection had opened, and now it was flooding both ways. She felt him experiencing her too—her fear, her stubborn independence, her determination not to become her mother. The ache of abandonment she’d never fully healed from.
It was too much. Too intimate. Too raw.
“I can’t—” Liana gasped. “Kaelen, I can’t stop it—”
“Yes you can.” He tightened his grip on her hand. “Breathe. Focus. You control the connection, not the other way around.”
Liana tried to focus, but the power kept building. Silver light blazed from both their marks, so bright that people across the warehouse turned to stare. The chalk circle beneath them began to glow.
“Fascinating,” Thorne murmured. “The resonance is off the charts.”
“Make it stop,” Liana said through gritted teeth. Her mark was burning, her whole body vibrating with energy that had nowhere to go.
“Kaelen,” Thorne called. “Channel it. She’s the source, you’re the direction. That’s how the bond works.”
Kaelen’s eyes widened with understanding. Then he moved, pulling Liana closer, his free hand coming up to press against her mark through her shirt. The contact was electric.
“Trust me,” he said.
And Liana, who had spent her entire life not trusting anyone, let go.
The power surged through Kaelen, and he directed it outward—a blast of pure silver light that shot from his palm like a weapon. It hit the far wall of the warehouse with enough force to crack the concrete.
The pressure inside Liana vanished. She sagged, and Kaelen caught her, holding her upright.
“Holy hell,” Maya breathed from somewhere nearby.
Thorne was grinning. “That’s what I thought. You two are remarkably compatible. The power transfer was nearly perfect.”
Liana looked up at Kaelen. He was still holding her, his expression stunned. Through the bond—calmer now, but still open—she felt his awe.
“That was—” he started.
“Terrifying?”
“I was going to say incredible.” His thumb brushed unconsciously against her shoulder, right over the mark. “I’ve never felt anything like that.”
“Good or bad?”
“Both.” He helped her straighten, but didn’t let go entirely. “Your potential is enormous. But untrained, you’re dangerous. To yourself and everyone around you.”
“That’s encouraging.”
“It’s the truth.” His expression turned serious. “This is why the training is necessary. You’re a source of raw power. Without control, without me to channel it, you could burn yourself out. Or worse.”
Liana’s stomach sank. “So I’m basically a walking bomb without you.”
“Not a bomb. A star.” Kaelen’s voice softened. “Stars create. They sustain. But they also destroy if they go supernova. You need balance. We need balance.”
Thorne approached, tablet in hand. “Your compatibility rating is ninety-three percent. That’s the highest we’ve recorded so far. Most pairs are in the seventy to eighty range.”
“What does that mean?” Liana asked.
“It means your bond is exceptionally strong. Which is good—you’ll be powerful together. But it also means you’re more vulnerable to each other. The connection goes deeper.” Thorne looked between them. “If one of you is injured or dies, the other will feel it more intensely than most bonded pairs. You need to be careful.”
Kaelen’s jaw clenched, and through the bond, Liana felt his fear spike. This was exactly what he’d been afraid of. Getting close to her. Putting her at risk.
“Hey.” Liana reached up, touching his face before she could second-guess it. “We’re doing this together, remember? You don’t get to protect me by shutting me out.”
“I’m trying to keep you alive.”
“Then teach me. Help me control this. Because with or without you, I’m in this now.” She held his gaze. “I’d rather be in it with a partner than alone.”
Something in his expression cracked. He turned his face into her palm, just slightly, and Liana felt the exact moment he gave in. Felt his walls coming down. Felt him accepting what neither of them had wanted but both of them needed.
The bond.
“Alright,” he said quietly. “Partners.”
Liana smiled. “Partners.”
The mark on her shoulder blazed warm, and through it, she felt Kaelen’s answering warmth. The bond had been tested.
And they’d passed.
Now they just had to survive what came next.
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