Chapter 8
Lucien
The Day After The Subway Warp—Pomerium, Imperium
The skies were always brighter here. Not because of any sun or star, but because the realm breathed magic.
Pure power. It reverberated in the air, in the rivers of energy that coiled beneath the caldon.
But that morning, it felt still. My coat still smelled of the human world. Smoke. Steel. Mortals.
Cece.
She’d been terrified when I warped her to my realm.
One moment, she was in the path of death on the subway track.
The next, she was in my arms as we slipped through the skin between worlds.
Humans have never survived the transition to my realm.
But she had—with my help. Even the elders say no human can endure the raw frequency of transitioning to Pomerium without being torn apart.
Yet, something in her harmonized with the realm once I brought her over. Like she already belonged.
It’s the reason no one in my realm truly suspected her of being mortal during her encounter. And still, it felt almost as if she belonged.
That frightened me.
I didn’t explain where she was. I couldn’t.
She wasn’t ready—and neither was I. So I did the only thing I could.
I kept her from harm. Kept her in the dark.
And after allowing some time for the signal of her breach into Imperium to fade, I warped her back.
Back to the mortal realm. Back to her world.
I stood outside her building for a long time, cloaked from sight, watching the windows until I saw her shadow pass behind them. Alive. Safe.
But different.
I knew she would begin to feel it soon. A shift in her bones. A sensation under her skin. The pull of me. Of Imperium, echoing quietly in her blood. I knew because I felt it too. A tether. I hadn’t merely saved her life. I’d bound her to something ancient and forbidden. Something dangerous.
I’d bound her to me.
The Order would feel the ripples. Aris would question, watch, perhaps even move against me. But I’d made my choice. She was alive, and that alone outweighed the consequences waiting in the dark.
And even if she never understood why—I did.