Chapter 5 The Mark of the Betrayed

The night was cold, and the wind howled through the empty streets like the whispers of the forgotten. Serah Blake stood on the edge of a rooftop, the city stretched out beneath her. The distant hum of traffic below seemed muted against the pounding in her chest.

She hadn't asked for this. She hadn't asked for Darian Cross. And yet, his shadow loomed over her every step, every breath.

The dreams had started again. Visions of a time she couldn't remember, of a love she couldn't recall, but it felt like a lifetime. Isabella. The name echoed in her mind like a secret too dangerous to utter.

The second mark had been made. And now, everything was changing.

She turned as a figure stepped out from the shadows behind her.

"You've been busy," Darian said, his voice smooth like velvet, yet his tone carried an edge she couldn't ignore.

"You should leave," Serah replied, her voice hard. "You're not welcome here."

Darian stepped closer. "You're still running from what's inside you."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You will," he said. "Soon. I've waited too long for this moment."

Serah's pulse quickened. The walls that had kept her safe for so long were starting to crack. "What are you? Who are you really?"

He smiled, but there was no warmth in it. "I'm the one you betrayed, Isabella. The one you abandoned."

Her heart stopped. The name hit her like a sledgehammer, and for a moment, the world seemed to tilt.

"No," she whispered.

"Yes," Darian answered. "You've been running from me for centuries. But now, we meet again. And this time, you will face the truth."

He took another step closer, the air around them charged with something ancient, something dangerous.

"You're not Isabella," Serah breathed, more to herself than to him.

Darian's eyes flashed, dark and ancient. "I am. But I am not. I am both the man you left and the creature you fear. You'll remember soon enough. Your soul knows me."

Her head spun. Her vision blurred. And for the first time in her life, Serah Blake felt as though the world she knew was nothing more than a lie.