Chapter 24

Marks of Fire

The underground sanctum never felt warm again after the prophecy.

Even with ancient dragonfire burning across the stone floor, the chamber carried the kind of cold that settled deep inside people rather than on their skin.

Evelynn stood near the edge of the glowing symbols trying very hard not to panic while Kael stared at her like the world had just shifted beneath his feet.

Which, honestly, maybe it had.

Malek looked exhausted enough to qualify as spiritually deceased.

“This is why the records were sealed,” the old priest muttered quietly. “Nobody was supposed to know.”

Kael’s attention never left Evelynn. “And yet here we are.”

The bond felt unstable now. Too many emotions colliding at once. Shock. Fear. Rage. Hope. None of them fully belonged to one person anymore.

Evelynn hated that.

She folded her arms tightly. “Can someone explain why everyone keeps looking at me like I accidentally became a historical disaster?”

Neither man answered immediately.

Excellent.

Kael finally stepped toward her slowly. “The prophecy referred to a bloodline marked by dragonfire.”

“That sounds aggressively ominous.”

Malek rubbed one hand over his face tiredly. “The old texts believed the resonance bond would awaken dormant traits.”

Evelynn blinked. “Traits.”

Nobody clarified.

Wonderful.

The ancient symbols beneath the sanctum floor suddenly pulsed brighter.

Once.

Then again.

Kael noticed immediately.

His expression darkened sharply.

“Move away from the circle.”

Evelynn frowned. “Why?”

The answer arrived before either man spoke.

Pain exploded through her wrist.

Evelynn gasped sharply and grabbed her arm instinctively as heat shot beneath her skin like molten metal flooding her veins.

“What the hell—”

The dragonfire across the chamber surged violently upward.

Kael reached her instantly.

“What hurts?”

“My arm feels like it’s on fire!”

The words barely left her mouth before the pain intensified again. Evelynn nearly lost her balance as burning heat spread from her wrist up toward her elbow beneath skin that suddenly glowed faintly gold.

Kael caught her before she hit the floor.

The moment he touched her—

the fire reacted.

Every symbol in the sanctum burst brighter at once.

Malek swore softly in draconic.

Not reassuring.

Evelynn looked down at her wrist desperately.

Something moved beneath her skin.

No.

Appeared.

Black lines slowly spread upward across her wrist like ink drifting through water. Thin curling patterns emerged against pale skin, sharp and elegant and deeply unnatural.

Dragon markings.

“Oh absolutely not.”

The black markings continued climbing slowly higher across her arm while gold light flickered faintly beneath them.

The pain worsened.

Kael’s grip tightened instinctively around her shoulders. “Look at me.”

Evelynn glared at him through gritted teeth. “I would rather look literally anywhere else right now.”

“Evelynn.”

The sharpness in his voice finally cut through the panic.

She looked up.

Kael’s gold eyes locked onto hers steadily while dragonfire spiraled wildly around the chamber behind him.

“Breathe.”

“That advice feels medically insufficient.”

Still—

she tried.

The bond pulsed strangely between them.

Warmth spread through her chest suddenly, softer than the burning in her arm. Not removing the pain exactly.

Balancing it.

Kael was doing something.

Or the bond was.

Evelynn honestly no longer understood the difference.

The black markings finally stopped spreading just below her elbow.

Silence crashed through the sanctum afterward.

Even the dragonfire lowered again slowly.

Evelynn stared at her arm in disbelief.

The markings looked ancient. Curved black patterns wrapped around her skin like living symbols, almost metallic beneath the firelight.

Not scars.

Not tattoos.

Something else entirely.

Kael still hadn’t let go of her.

His gaze remained fixed on the markings with an expression Evelynn couldn’t read.

Not fear.

Recognition.

Which somehow felt worse.

Malek approached cautiously like he expected the entire chamber to explode.

Reasonable concern.

The old priest studied Evelynn’s arm for several long seconds before speaking quietly.

“The Mark of Fire.”

Evelynn looked up sharply. “That sounds fake.”

“It is older than kingdoms.”

Unfortunately, that also sounded believable here.

Kael’s jaw tightened visibly. “The prophecy mentioned markings?”

Malek nodded slowly. “Dragonfire responding to blood. Resonance awakening the seal.”

Evelynn stared at both of them. “I’m sorry, the seal?”

Nobody liked explaining things directly in this palace.

Kael finally released her carefully and stepped backward once the pain fully subsided.

But his eyes never left the markings.

“The ancient dragon bloodlines carried bonded marks,” he said quietly.

Evelynn immediately frowned. “Dragon bloodline.”

A terrible silence followed.

Then both men looked at her.

Oh no.

“No,” Evelynn said immediately. “Absolutely not. We are not doing secret dragon ancestry.”

Malek looked deeply uncomfortable.

Which was answer enough.

Evelynn pointed aggressively at the markings. “These appeared because of stress or magic or emotional damage or whatever horrifying thing this place keeps doing to me.”

The black symbols along her wrist flickered faintly gold.

Traitors.

Kael stepped closer again slowly.

“May I?”

Evelynn narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “That question never leads anywhere good.”

Still, she held out her arm reluctantly.

Kael’s fingers brushed lightly against the markings.

The reaction was immediate.

Dragonfire roared through the sanctum.

Not violently.

Joyfully.

The flames spiraled upward across the ancient chamber while warmth flooded through the bond so suddenly it stole Evelynn’s breath for a second.

Kael froze too.

Both of them stared at the markings glowing beneath his touch.

Then something even worse happened.

The black symbols along Evelynn’s wrist shifted slightly toward him.

Like they recognized him.

“Oh, I hate this,” Evelynn whispered.

Kael looked equally unsettled.

Which honestly helped.

Malek, however, suddenly looked terrified.

Not confused.

Not surprised.

Terrified.

The old priest stepped backward slowly. “The bond is progressing too quickly.”

Kael’s eyes lifted sharply. “Why?”

Malek hesitated.

That hesitation alone sent dread curling through Evelynn’s stomach.

Then quietly, almost reluctantly, the old priest said:

“Because the prophecy did not describe a resonance.”

Silence.

The dragonfire dimmed.

Evelynn looked between them slowly. “Then what did it describe?”

Malek met Kael’s gaze first.

Then finally answered:

“A mating bond.”

The entire sanctum went dead silent.

Evelynn blinked once.

Then twice.

“…I’m going back to bed.”