**Kael** Kael had watched many humans make pacts. Some asked for wealth. Some wanted longer lives. Others were willing to trade their entire families to take revenge on a single person. But no one had ever said the word yes in a voice like Alya Prameswari's. That voice didn't sound like sacrifice. It sounded like war.
The car stopped in front of a gateway of light. The wall stretched from one side of the road to the other, blocking the entire route toward the city center. Its surface gleamed like glass, but enormous shadows moved inside it.
Alya stared out the window.
“What is this place?”
“Not a place you were supposed to see.”
“Is your answer always like that?”
“Humans usually don't ask so many questions.”
“Humans usually don't see winged creatures standing in the middle of the road.”
Kael turned toward her.
Alya looked pale. The contract mark on her wrist was still glowing faintly. Black lines like roots had spread almost to her elbow.
The mark should have appeared gradually.
But on Alya, the contract was reacting far too quickly.
It confirmed Kael's suspicion.
Guardian blood still flowed through her veins.
The last blood of a lineage that had been hunted for two hundred years.
“Can this contract be canceled?” Alya asked.
“No.”
“Everything can be canceled.”
“Not by a human.”
“Then you cancel it.”
Kael fell silent.
Alya gave him a sharper look. “You made this pact. You have to be able to cancel it.”
“I didn't make the pact.”
“You told me to touch your hand.”
“I only opened the door. You were the one who chose to enter.”
“Because you said my brother would die.”
“He was going to die.”
“And now he'll live?”
“For a while.”
Alya let out a short laugh. There was no joy in it.
“You should have said that before I agreed to the contract.”
“Humans rarely listen to warnings when someone they love is dying.”
The words escaped before Kael could stop them.
He immediately regretted saying them.
Alya fell silent. For several seconds, the only sound was the car's engine.
“How long?” she asked.
“Ten years.”
“That isn't what I meant. How long can Raka live?”
“If nothing interferes, ten years.”
“And after that?”
“The contract ends.”
“Then?”
“Raka will get sick again.”
Alya stared at him as if she wanted to slap him.
Kael wouldn't have dodged if she had. He had endured things far worse than the anger of a human.
“So I only bought ten years?” Alya's voice trembled.
“Yes.”
“With my memories?”
“Yes.”
“And you call that saving him?”
Kael turned his gaze toward the gateway of light.
Beyond the wall, the towers of the immortal world waited, their peaks piercing the sky. There was no sun there. Only a deep-blue sky filled with golden cracks.
“I call it a chance,” he said.
“A chance for what?”
Kael didn't answer.
To carry out his duty. To deliver Alya to Queen Seraphine. To free himself from the curse. Or at least, that was what he was supposed to do.
A knock came from outside the car.
Alya turned.
A woman stood beyond the glass. She wore a police uniform, but her face was far too pale, and her eyes were completely white.
Kael raised one finger.
The woman backed away.
“Don't get out of the car,” he said.
“I wasn't planning to.”
“Good.”
Kael opened the door.
Air from beyond the gateway rushed inside at once. It was cold, smelled of iron, and carried whispers from thousands of unseen corridors.
He stepped out of the car and stood before the gateway guardian.
“Kael Arveth,” the woman said. “You're carrying guardian blood.”
“Open the gateway.”
“The Queen has been waiting.”
“Open the gateway.”
The woman smiled. Her lips split far too wide.
“Does she know your name yet?”
Kael felt the contract on his hand pulse.
“Open the gateway.”
“Does she know how you're going to betray her?”
Kael stepped forward.
In an instant, the shadow beneath his feet shot out like a spear and pierced the woman's chest. The guardian's body turned to white dust that scattered into the air.
Inside the car, Alya screamed.
Kael didn't turn around.
He had killed more creatures than any human could count. But gateway guardian blood could not touch Alya before its time.
Kael pressed his palm against the surface of the gateway.
Golden light spread, forming a circle.
The doorway to the immortal world opened.
Beyond it lay a long road paved with black stone. Blue lights floated in the air. Tall buildings stood without foundations, suspended above the fog. In the distance, a train passed between the towers, moving without rails.
Alya got out of the car hesitantly.
Kael could feel her fear.
Unlike other humans, Alya didn't try to pretend she was brave. She was afraid, but she remained standing.
That was the problem.
That kind of courage always made someone easier to love.
And Kael could not love her.
Not again.
“Where are we?” Alya asked.
“Elyndor.”
“This isn't Arcapolis.”
“No.”
“My brother is in the hospital.”
“He's still there.”
“We just passed through a gateway to another place. How is that possible?”
“Time moves differently in Elyndor.”
“How long have we been gone?”
“In the human world, only thirty seconds have passed.”
Alya spun toward him. “Can you take me back?”
“Yes.”
“Then do it.”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because we need to meet someone.”
“Someone who can explain everything?”
“No.”
“Someone who can heal Raka?”
“Not that either.”
Alya clenched her fists. “Then what was the point of bringing me here?”
“Because you've already made a pact. The contract must be ratified.”
“I never agreed to come here.”
“The contract doesn't require the other party's consent.”
“This contract is infuriating.”
“Contracts always are.”
Alya moved closer until only a few steps separated them.
“Listen carefully, Kael Arveth. I don't care what kind of creature you are, what kind of king you are, or what hell you crawled out of. If you try to hurt me—”
“I won't hurt you.”
“If you try to touch Raka—”
“I won't touch your brother.”
“If you lie—”
“I can't lie.”
Alya stopped.
Kael looked at her.
It was one of the oldest rules of the pact. Immortals could hide the truth, twist their words, and make humans misunderstand them. But they couldn't speak a direct lie.
“Really?” Alya asked.
“Really.”
“So if I ask whether you want to hurt me, you have to answer honestly?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want to hurt me?”
Kael remained silent for a long time.
Alya waited.
Kael looked at the mark on her wrist, then at her face.
“I do,” he said.
Alya sucked in a sharp breath.
“But I won't.”
“Why?”
“Because if I hurt you now, the Queen will get what she wants.”
“Which queen?”
Kael heard the sound of bells in the distance.
Once. Twice. Three times.
Every blue light along the road went out.
The creatures walking around them stopped. Some lowered their heads. Some knelt. Even the shadow beneath Kael's feet recoiled.
Alya watched everything with a tense expression.
Someone approached from the far end of the road.
The woman wore a long black dress that swept across the stone. Her silver hair fell to her waist. Behind her head floated a ring of light like a broken crown.
Seraphine.
Queen of Elyndor.
Kael had knelt before her for three hundred years.
He had once begged her.
Once loved her.
Once killed at her command.
And finally, he had sworn to destroy her.
Seraphine stopped several yards from them.
Her gaze went straight to Alya.
Not to the mark on her wrist.
Not to her face.
But to the blood flowing beneath her skin.
“So,” Seraphine said, her voice soft as a song, “the last princess of the guardians has finally come home.”
Alya turned to Kael.
“Princess?”
Kael didn't answer.
Seraphine smiled.
“Don't you know, human child? This world has been waiting for you ever since your mother took you away.”
Alya went pale. “My mother?”
“Yes.”
For the first time since entering Elyndor, Alya looked truly unsteady.
Kael stepped forward, blocking Seraphine's view of Alya.
“The contract has been made,” he said. “I'll take Alya to Pact Tower.”
“There's no need.”
“The pact must be ratified.”
“The pact was valid from the moment her blood touched your hand.”
Seraphine raised her hand.
The mark on Alya's wrist flared brightly.
Alya staggered and clutched her chest.
Kael immediately caught her shoulder.
In an instant, Alya's body went rigid. Her eyes lost focus.
“Your first memory,” Seraphine whispered. “Let's see what's most precious to you.”
“What are you doing?” Kael snapped.
“Collecting the price.”
“It's not time yet.”
“Contracts don't know time.”
Kael raised his hand. Dark shadows gathered around him, forming a ring of sharp edges.
Every creature on the road backed away.
Seraphine merely gave a quiet laugh.
“You won't attack me, Kael.”
“I can.”
“No. You still want your freedom.”
Kael stopped.
Seraphine was right.
As long as the curse remained attached to his body, he couldn't kill the Queen. If he did, his soul and body would be destroyed along with the curse.
Seraphine looked at Alya.
“I'm only taking one small memory.”
Alya screamed.
Kael turned toward her.
The woman knelt on the black stone, both hands clutching her head. Tears streamed down her face.
“Stop!” Kael shouted.
Seraphine ignored him.
Inside Alya's mind, a memory began to rise.
A small house.
The scent of freshly baked cake.
A long-haired woman laughing in the kitchen.
Her mother.
Little Alya ran toward the woman, carrying a messy drawing of the sun.
Kael saw the memory through the contract.
He saw Alya's face as her mother hugged her.
Saw a happiness he had never even possessed.
Then the light cracked.
The memory shattered into thousands of fragments.
Alya screamed.
Kael felt the same pain pierce his chest.
He hadn't known the contract would connect them so closely.
Hadn't known that every loss Alya suffered would feel like something being torn from inside his own body.
Seraphine withdrew her hand.
The light of the memory flowed into her palm.
“Done,” she said.
Alya went limp.
Kael caught her body before she could fall against the stone.
Alya's face was wet with tears, but her eyes were empty.
“Who…” she whispered.
Kael tensed.
“Who was the woman I just saw?”
The question shattered something inside Kael.
“Your mother,” he answered.
Alya stared at him in confusion.
“I can't remember her face.”
Kael lifted his face toward Seraphine.
For the first time in three hundred years, his hatred overcame his fear.
“Reverse the taking.”
Seraphine smiled.
“You're starting to care.”
“I'm warning you.”
“No. You're asking.”
The shadows around Kael trembled.
Seraphine moved closer and whispered beside his ear.
“Fall in love with her, Kael. Let the contract take everything.”
Then the Queen left them in the middle of the dark road.
Alya was still in Kael's arms.
Her heartbeat was weak.
Kael lowered his gaze to her face.
He never should have brought Alya to Seraphine.
He should have let the contract take ten years of her memories.
He should have thought about his own freedom.
But when Alya gripped the edge of his coat and whispered, “Please don't let me forget everything,” Kael realized something he didn't want to admit.
He had failed to carry out his duty.
Not because Alya was descended from the guardians.
Not because she could open the gateway between the two worlds.
But because from the first moment he saw Alya standing alone beneath the freezing rain, Kael had already wanted to save her.
And that desire was the beginning of his ruin.