Fractured Fates

In Professor Stone's³ Ancient Magic lesson, the class examines objects marked by powerful magic. When Rhi¹ handles a white porcelain mirror, she suddenly sees the hand that once held it: young, adorned with gold rings, fingernails short. Stone³ notices her reaction and later pulls her into his office.

He tests her again, confirming she can perceive magical fingerprints — a rare gift that most trained scholars take decades to master, if ever. He is intensely curious, though she tries to hide the full extent of her power, fearing what he might do with the knowledge. He warns her that such a skill could keep her alive on the run, but also makes her a greater target.

When Pip¹² disappears, Rhi¹ breaks her rule of independence and calls the man in black.² That night, searching the forest behind the dorms, she is violently pinned against a tree by an invisible force. She feels a solid body, hot breath, and sharp teeth trailing down her throat before a mouth sucks gently at her pulse.

Then, as suddenly as it came, it vanishes. Moments later, the man in black² emerges from the trees, carrying Pip,¹² who Stone³ found in the mansion cellar. He takes her for a ride on his bike; they kiss, and she finds a shattering release against him. Then he withdraws, calling it a mistake.

Andrew,⁷ the transfer student who befriended Rhi,¹ invites her to play video games and eat pizza. When he leans in to kiss her, she turns away, explaining she sees him only as a friend. Humiliated, he later tells the locker room he slept with her. Spencer Moreau,⁵ upon hearing the rumor, finds Andrew⁷ and beats him bloody.

Then he confronts Rhi¹ on a path, hand around her throat, demanding to know about her relationship with the man in black.² He kisses her roughly, his body pressing hard against hers, then jerks away, calling her frigid. The contradictory violence and desire leave her shaken and confused.

A parcel arrives containing a putrid, rotting ham. Days later, Rhi¹ returns to her dorm to find a bloody pig's trotter nailed to her bedframe. Pip,¹² terrified but unharmed, had hidden under Winnie's⁶ bed. Rhi¹ touches the severed limb and tries to read its magical fingerprints.

A blurred vision emerges: a man's hand heavy with silver rings and dark tattoos,⁹ but too hazy to identify. That night, she dreams of the same hand⁹ reaching for her throat, squeezing until she wakes gasping, with faint bruises already forming. Winnie⁶ strengthens the protective wards, but Rhi¹ now knows the threat is not a school prank. A predator⁹ is closing in.

Late one evening, Rhi¹ visits Stone³ to demand answers about her identity. He admits that while trying to probe her mind, he encountered memories that have been deliberately blocked, likely by her aunt to protect her. He could unlock them, but he refuses to promise he would keep their contents secret from the authorities.

Furious at the condition, she refuses. He also reveals that despite his and Azlan's² investigations, they have found no records of her parents or the name Blackwaters¹ — as if her family was erased. The offer hangs between them, a temptation and a threat.

Unable to sleep, the man in black² rides to the Council building and uses his hidden skill for disarming magic to slip into the Chancellor's¹¹ private office. Searching the desk, he finds a drawer of case files. One folder contains a faded photograph of a young woman who, while not identical to Rhi,¹ shares her unusual caramel-colored eyes and the sharp angle of her jaw.

The file bears no name, only the image, as if someone intentionally stripped away her identity. He takes nothing but memorizes the face, then retreats, now certain the Council is concealing something about Rhi's¹ lineage from both him and her.

At the Founders' Night party, Rhi¹ is assigned to the garden dressed as a cheap angel. Stone³ finds her and their tense encounter escalates into him trying to force past her mental shields, causing her physical pain until he stops, shaken, and apologizes. Later, parched, she enters the hell-themed Venus common room.

Tristan Kennedy,⁴ enthroned as the Devil, spots her and, with a lazy flick of his wrist, empties a bucket of ice water over her head. Her thin white nightdress turns instantly transparent, revealing her body to the entire party. The room erupts in laughter and cameras flash. She scoops up Pip¹² and flees.

Andrew,⁷ claiming remorse, persuades Rhi¹ to leave campus for a pool hall. Instead, he guides her into a dead-end alley near the docks and bolts. Renzo Barone,⁹ the Wolves of Night's scarred assassin, steps from the shadows, twirling her father's silver dagger. He confesses to sending the ham and trotter, describing with relish how he likes to toy with his prey.

Rhi¹ fights with everything she possesses, even summoning a blast of the rare scarlet magic that briefly wounds him, but he is too powerful. Just as he prepares to end her, Stone³ and the man in black² explode into the alley, driving Renzo⁹ off. Rhi¹ collapses, her leg broken, her magic drained.

At the hospital, a doctor separates Rhi¹ from the man in black,² and she is immediately seized by an excruciating pain that feels like her insides are being wrenched apart. The nurse, realizing what is happening, rushes to reunite them, explaining that fated mates cannot be separated so soon after a bond-sealing without agony.

He returns, his hand on her shoulder like a balm. Then he tells her the truth: the hook in her belly is the mate bond, and when she was dying, he poured his magic into her to save her, sealing it forever. His name is Azlan.² She stares at him, betrayed and bound.