The Price of Awakening!

The fire burned low in the farmhouse, casting long shadows against the wooden walls. Anna sat in the armchair across from Ethan, her fingers lightly tapping the hilt of her dagger. She hadn't let go of it since their fight.

Ethan sat opposite her, utterly at ease. One arm draped lazily over the couch, his legs stretched out before him. The way he held himself—like a king surveying his domain—made her skin prickle.

Something was off.

Not just in the way he moved, or how he looked at her now with a mixture of amusement and curiosity.

It was deeper than that. Fundamental.

She could feel it in the air.

The man before her wasn't Ethan Ward anymore.

He wasn't Lioris either.

He had become something entirely different.

Anna had spent years studying power, understanding its flow, tracking how souls connected to each other. She had seen transformations before.

But nothing like this.

"You haven't said much," Ethan finally broke the silence.

Anna kept her face neutral. "I'm trying to figure out if I should be congratulating you... or killing you."

Ethan grinned. "Fair."

Silence settled again. The wind outside howled against the windows, rattling the glass.

Then, without warning, the fireplace died.

The farmhouse was plunged into darkness.

Anna's grip on her dagger tightened. She didn't move, but every muscle in her body was tense, coiled like a predator waiting to strike.

Ethan, however, only chuckled. And his eyes—those black, endless eyes—shimmered faintly in the dark.

"Relax, Anna," he murmured. "It's just beginning."

Elsewhere, In the Heart of the Abyss

Victoria stood at the edge of her shattered palace, overlooking the swirling chaos of the dark world.

She could still feel him.

The bond wasn't broken completely. It had mutated.

That was the problem.

Ethan had always been hers to manipulate—to mold, to shape, to control.

And now?

She gritted her teeth.

Now, he was an unknown variable.

Not her weapon.

Not Anna's pawn.

Not even a Hollow King's tether anymore.

He was something new.

And Victoria Lane did not like uncertainty.

Slowly, she turned, her silk dress trailing along the cracked floor of her throne room.

She needed to act before this slipped from her grasp entirely.

She had spent too long building this empire, too long cultivating power, to have it all undone by a single man.

And if Ethan Ward had truly broken free?

Then she would simply remind him why he was hers to begin with.

The First Test

Back in the farmhouse, the darkness pulsed like a living thing. The fire had not returned, and the only source of light was the faint silver glow emanating from Ethan himself.

Anna didn't like it.

She didn't like any of this.

"So," she finally said, shifting slightly in her seat. "Tell me—what exactly are you now?"

Ethan considered her question, rolling his shoulders as though testing the limits of his own body. Like he wasn't even sure himself.

"Something... different," he admitted.

Anna's fingers drummed against her thigh. "Different how?"

Ethan smiled.

And then, without warning, he vanished.

One second he was there, lounging on the couch like a man without a care in the world—the next, he was behind her.

Anna barely had time to react before his breath was at her ear.

"Faster," he murmured.

A shiver ran down her spine.

Anna twisted, dagger flashing through the air—but he was already gone.

Her blade slashed nothing but empty space.

He was at the other side of the room now, leaning casually against the doorway.

Anna swallowed hard.

He was faster than before.

Not just physically.

Reality bent around him.

"What the hell did you do to yourself?" she demanded.

Ethan chuckled. "I didn't do anything." He spread his arms. "I just... let go."

Anna frowned. "Let go of what?"

Ethan's gaze darkened.

"Everything."

The Consequences of Change

Anna took a slow breath.

She had to think logically. She had to understand what had happened before she could decide what to do next.

Ethan had been a man split in two—one part belonging to the past, one part claimed by Victoria's darkness.

That war had defined him.

But now?

Now that struggle was gone.

He was whole. But what had he sacrificed to become this?

"Does she still have a hold on you?" Anna asked cautiously.

Victoria.

Ethan hesitated. A flicker of something crossed his face, something almost unreadable.

But then he smiled. "No."

Anna didn't know whether to believe him.

Because if he was telling the truth—if Victoria had really lost control over him—then that meant something far worse.

It meant Ethan Ward might have become even more dangerous than her.

Victoria's Next Move

Far beyond the mortal world, in the depths of the Hollow King's domain, Victoria moved through the shadows like a queen reclaiming her throne.

Her fingers traced the edges of an ancient artifact—a blade crafted from the first darkness, pulsing with cursed energy.

A weapon capable of severing any soul.

She had tried to manipulate him. To claim him as hers.

But if Ethan was truly lost to her?

Then she had one final option left.

She would destroy him.

And this time, there would be no resurrection.

The Final Realization

Anna watched Ethan carefully.

She still wasn't sure who or what he was now.

But one thing was certain.

He was no longer hers.

Not Victoria's.

Not Lioris's.

Not anyone's.

He was something new, something unknown, and Anna had never feared the unknown before.

But this time?

This time she did.

Because Ethan wasn't just a man reborn.

He was a man without chains.

And that made him more powerful than ever.