Kage’s POV

  The soft glow of early morning light filtered through the curtains, casting a golden hue over the room. The warmth of the bed, the quiet rhythm of breathing beside me—it was a rare kind of peace. I wasn’t used to waking up like this. Not after the week we’d had.

  I turned my head, taking in the sight of Zara, still asleep beside me, her breathing slow and steady. She looked different like this. Relaxed. Like the weight she carried every day had finally been set down, even if just for a little while.

  I should have let her sleep longer. But my mind was already moving, already focused on the case. The Bloodspawn. The victim. Evan’s words. “I’m sorry.”

  I exhaled quietly, rolling onto my back, staring at the ceiling. A moment later, Zara stirred beside me, shifting closer. Her lips brushed against my shoulder, then my jaw, leaving a slow trail of kisses down my neck. The warmth of her breath sent a shiver through me, but my mind was already elsewhere.

  “You’re thinking too loud,” she murmured against my skin, her voice still thick with sleep, her lips lingering just below my ear.

  I huffed a quiet laugh. “Didn’t know you could hear thoughts now.”

  She smirked, shifting onto her side to face me. “I don’t have to be a telepath to know that.” Her glowing green eyes studied me for a long moment. “You’re thinking about the case.”

  I nodded, rubbing a hand over my face. “I can’t shake something Evan told me.”

  Zara propped herself up on her elbow, waiting. “Go on.”

  I hesitated, then met her gaze. “He said the attacker whispered something before running off.”

  Her brows furrowed slightly. “What did they say?”

  I exhaled. “‘I’m sorry.’”

  The words hung between us, heavier than they should have been. That wasn’t something a killer said. That was something someone said when they were afraid.

  Zara sat up fully, running a hand through her hair. “You think this Bloodspawn is just some magical who lost control?”

  I nodded. “That’s my gut feeling. Everyone’s treating this like some calculated attack, but what if it’s not? What if this is just… a scared magical who doesn’t know how to stop?”

  She studied me, then sighed, resting a hand on my arm. “Then you have to find them before someone else does.”

  I exhaled, letting my head fall back against the pillow. “Yeah. That’s the problem.”

  Because if I didn’t—the Sovereign Order would.

  The scent of fresh coffee filled the air as I leaned against the kitchen counter, watching Zara move around the small space, effortlessly pulling ingredients together. She had insisted on making breakfast, claiming I still looked “too broody” to function properly without food. I didn’t argue.

  She cracked an egg into a pan, the sizzle filling the quiet space between us. “The Sovereign Order was at the university yesterday. One of the professors told me they were trying to pressure the board into banning certain magic courses.”

  I frowned, arms crossed. “Which ones?”

  She shot me a knowing look. “Necromancy, for one. Anything involving advanced magical theory. They’re pushing the idea that too much magical education makes people dangerous.”

  I exhaled sharply, running a hand through my hair. “That’s not surprising. The more they convince people that magic needs to be controlled, the easier it is for them to push their exile plan.”

  Zara flipped the eggs, her movements precise, but I could see the tension in her shoulders. “They don’t just want control, Kage. They want magicals gone. Period. They’ve been framing this as a safety issue, but we both know where this leads. First restrictions, then forced relocation.”

  I clenched my jaw. “And they’re using Bloodspawn to fuel the fire.”

  She set two plates on the table, finally turning to face me fully. “Which is why you need to find them first. The Order isn’t interested in the truth. They want a villain to justify what they’re already planning.”

  I nodded, taking a seat across from her. “If Bloodspawn is just a scared magical, they won’t survive long if the Order gets to them first.”

  Zara leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. “So where do you start?”

  I cut into my eggs, thinking. “I’ll have to start by going over the previous attack sites again. If this magical really is out of control, they’re going to leave a trail. I just have to find it before someone else does.”

  Just as I was about to take another bite, my pocket buzzed. I pulled out my communicator, seeing Hall’s name flashing across the screen.

  I answered, already bracing myself. “Yeah?”

  “We’ve got another one,” Hall’s voice was sharp, no room for pleasantries. “Same signs as the others. Get down here.”

  I exhaled, setting my fork down. “Where?”

  “Alley off the East Market,” Hall said. “And Kage—this one didn’t survive.”

  Zara glanced up, reading my expression before I even said anything. “Another Bloodspawn attack?”

  I nodded, standing. “Yeah. You staying here?”

  She sighed, sipping her coffee. “I have a shift at the morgue. If the victim ends up on my table, I’ll let you know what I find.”

  I grabbed my coat, already shifting into work mode. “Be careful.”

  She smirked. “Always am. You?”

  I shot her a look before heading for the door. “Not making any promises.”

  Before I could step out, Zara caught my wrist, pulling me back just enough to press a quick, heated kiss to my lips. I wasn’t expecting it, but I didn’t hesitate to return it, deepening it for a lingering moment before forcing myself to pull away.

  She smirked against my mouth. “For luck.”

  I huffed a quiet laugh, brushing my thumb over her chin. “I’ll take it.”

  Then, with one last glance at her, I slipped out the door.”

  The East Market was usually bustling with merchants and early risers, but today, the alley was blocked off, a tense quiet hanging in the air. Kage stepped under the crime scene tape, his boots hitting the damp cobblestone as the familiar metallic scent of blood filled his senses.

  Detective Hall was already there, standing near the body, his arms crossed. “Took you long enough.”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Kage ignored him, his attention immediately drawn to the victim.

  The man lay sprawled on the ground, his clothes still intact, but the blood—the blood was wrong. It hadn’t spilled from any wound, hadn’t pooled naturally. Instead, it had seeped through his skin, spreading outward in a pattern that felt too precise, too unnatural.

  Kage crouched beside the body, his sharp gaze taking in every detail. There were no stab wounds, no gashes, no signs of a struggle. Just the eerie way the blood had left his body, like it had been pulled free by something unseen.

  He exhaled slowly. “This doesn’t look like a normal attack.”

  Hall grunted. “You’re telling me. Medical examiner hasn’t gotten here yet, but I don’t need a report to know this isn’t natural.”

  Kage’s eyes flicked to the edges of the alley, his instincts prickling. They weren’t alone.

  A handful of people lingered just beyond the barricade, whispering amongst themselves. And among them, standing still as stone, were members of the Sovereign Order.

  Their silver armbands gleamed in the morning light, their faces carefully neutral, but Kage wasn’t fooled. They weren’t just watching. They were waiting.

  Hall followed his gaze and let out a scoff. “They showed up not long after we did. Probably already spreading their version of events. You know how this goes.”

  Kage clenched his jaw. “Yeah. Doesn’t matter what really happened. They’ll twist it to fuel their movement.”

  Hall sighed. “If this gets out of control, they’re gonna start pushing for an immediate crackdown. We need answers fast.”

  Kage stood, his mind already racing. The pattern of the blood, the lack of visible wounds—it wasn’t just drained, it was drawn out, as if something had pulled it free from within.

  And if this was magic, there was only one person he trusted to confirm it.

  He pulled out his communicator and dialed Zara.

  She picked up after a few rings. “Kage? You’re at the crime scene?”

  “Yeah. And I need you down here. This isn’t just a murder. There’s something about the way the blood is… leaving the body. It looks like it was pulled out.”

  There was a brief pause before Zara’s voice came through, sharper now, all business. “That’s not normal. I’ll be there soon. Don’t touch anything until I get there.”

  Kage exhaled, snapping the communicator shut. He glanced back at the body, then at the watching figures of the Sovereign Order.

  He needed to find out what happened here—before they decided the truth for him.

  Zara’s POV

  The morgue was quiet, the usual routine of my shift uninterrupted—until my communicator buzzed on the metal tray beside me.

  I wiped my hands on a cloth before picking it up. “Zara.”

  “We have a body,” Kage’s voice came through, sharp and clipped. “East Market. I need you here.”

  I frowned, already untying my apron. “What kind of body?”

  His pause was brief, but heavy. “Another confirmed Bloodspawn victim.”

  I muttered a curse under my breath and grabbed my coat. “On my way.”

  The crime scene was already swarming with officers by the time I arrived. The alley was cordoned off, but even from the edge of the tape, I could feel it—magic. Raw, uncontained, and wrong.

  Kage spotted me immediately and crossed the distance between us. “Took you long enough.”

  “Some of us actually have jobs to do before getting dragged into murder scenes,” I shot back, but the smirk didn’t reach my eyes. “What am I looking at?”

  He led me toward the body, his expression dark. “See for yourself.”

  The man lay sprawled on the ground, his clothes still intact, but the blood was wrong. It hadn’t spilled from any wound, hadn’t pooled naturally. Instead, it had seeped through his skin, drawn out in a pattern that didn’t make sense.

  I crouched beside him, pressing my fingers lightly against his wrist. Even in death, there were always traces—fragments of the soul that lingered, tethered, waiting to be set free.

  But this? This was different.

  I reached out with my magic, letting it sink beneath the surface. Some of the tethers were shattered—but others were still intact, stretched, leading somewhere beyond the body.

  I exhaled slowly. “This isn’t just a murder. This is something else.”

  I hesitated, still trying to wrap my head around what I was seeing. “This… this isn’t normal, Kage. When someone dies, their soul tethers are either severed cleanly or they become so thin and fragile that they snap on their own. But this? Some of these tethers weren’t just broken—they were shattered. That doesn’t happen. Not naturally.”

  I swallowed, my fingers brushing the air above the body, where those remaining soul tethers stretched beyond what should have been possible. “And the ones that are still intact? They aren’t connected to the body anymore. They’re being pulled somewhere else. Like something started to take this soul but didn’t—or couldn’t—finish the process.”

  I could see them—the tethers. To my eyes, they looked like glowing green threads, some thin and frayed, others unnaturally stretched beyond what should be possible. Normally, in death, they would slowly dissolve, fading as the soul passed on. But these? They weren’t fading. They were being pulled.

  I hesitated, my fingers hovering over the thin, glowing tethers. “Sometimes, if a soul’s tether hasn’t completely severed, I can stitch the pieces back together—at least temporarily. It’s like… reconnecting a frayed thread, but the damage here is different.”

  I took a slow breath, focusing my magic, trying to piece the energy back together. A faint hum pulsed beneath my fingertips, but it was fragile, unstable. I gritted my teeth, pushing more magic into the tethers, trying to weave the broken strands together. Nothing. The shattered connections weren’t just frayed, they were gone—like trying to mend a thread with nothing to connect it to.

  I exhaled, frustration creeping in. “I can’t fix them without the other ends. It’s like trying to repair a bridge when half of it has already collapsed.”

  I stilled, shifting my focus. If I couldn’t repair them… then maybe I could follow them.

  I reached for one of the intact tethers that was still pulling away, wrapping my fingers around the energy thread. A strange tugging sensation rippled through me, like an unseen force trying to guide me forward.

  I stood abruptly, following the tether’s pull, my steps instinctual.

  Behind me, I heard Kage move. “Zara—what are you doing?”

  I didn’t look back, keeping my eyes fixed ahead as I tightened my grip on the tether. “I think I can follow it. If these threads are still connected to something—or someone—then they have to lead me to whoever did this.”

  Kage was silent for a beat, then his footsteps followed mine. “Then I’m coming with you.”

  I stopped briefly, glancing back at the body. “We need to make sure it stays here. If it’s moved, the tethers might be damaged even more.”

  Kage nodded, already pulling out his communicator. “Hall, it’s me. Zara and I are following something—just make sure no one touches the body until we get back.”

  “I’m not in the habit of letting people tamper with evidence,” Hall replied dryly. “But I’ll make sure it stays where it is.”

  Kage snapped the communicator shut, his gaze meeting mine. “Alright. Lead the way.”

  I turned back toward the invisible tether in my hands, gripping it tightly. The pull was faint, but unmistakable. Someone—or something—was on the other end of this. And I was going to find them.

  Kage’s POV

  I walked beside Zara as she led the way, her fingers still curled around an invisible force that I couldn’t see. She moved with purpose, her glowing green eyes focused on something far beyond my vision. I kept pace, scanning the streets as we moved through the quieter parts of the city.

  The early morning haze clung to the air, and the few people we passed barely spared us a glance. They didn’t know we were following a thread that tied a dead man’s soul to something—or someone—still out there.

  “How strong is it?” I asked, keeping my voice low.

  Zara didn’t slow. “It’s fading the farther we get, but it’s still pulling. It’s not a clean break.”

  I frowned. “So whatever did this… it didn’t take everything?”

  “No,” she said, her tone edged with uncertainty. “It’s like something started to take the soul but stopped before it was finished. That’s why the tethers are still stretched. They weren’t fully severed.”

  That didn’t sit right with me. If this was magic—if this was a magical who had lost control—why would they only take part of the soul? Was it intentional? Or had they failed to do whatever they were trying to do?

  We turned down a narrow street, the buildings closer together, casting long shadows across the cobblestones. Zara tightened her grip, her pace quickening. “It’s getting stronger.”

  I exhaled, scanning the alleys and doorways we passed. “Are we looking for someone hiding? Or…”

  Zara shook her head. “I don’t know yet.”

  That wasn’t comforting.

  The city’s outer districts were quieter, less watched, and it made me uneasy. This was where people disappeared, where the Sovereign Order would start their hunting if they caught wind of something unnatural happening.

  “You’re sure we’re not walking into a trap?” I asked.

  Zara shot me a look. “Do I ever walk into anything unprepared?”

  I huffed a quiet laugh. “That’s debatable.”

  Her smirk was brief, gone as soon as she focused back on the tether. “It’s close.”

  We stopped in front of a crumbling stone building, one of the old abandoned homes near the city’s edge. The tether in Zara’s hands trembled, pulling forward like something inside was struggling to hold on.

  I rested my hand on the hilt of my weapon, my shadows flickering at the edges of my vision. “Whatever’s in there… we’re about to find out.”

  I stepped forward first, pushing open the heavy wooden door. The inside was dark, the air thick with dust and the scent of damp stone. My shadows spread out instinctively, feeling along the edges of the crumbling walls, stretching into the dim corners of the abandoned home.

  Then, I heard it.

  A muffled sound—ragged, broken.

  Crying.

  I moved further in, my footsteps careful, and as my vision adjusted, I spotted him.

  A boy—small, curled up in the farthest corner of the room, his arms wrapped around himself as if trying to hold his own body together. His clothes were torn, his face streaked with tears. And beneath his skin, his veins glowed faintly crimson.

  I exhaled slowly. “Zara… I think we found him.”