The newborn Spiritborn traced frost patterns over medieval bestiaries, her breath crystallizing the description of "Lupus Sanguinis - the Blood Wolf cursed to walk eternity between forms." Across the aisle, Professor Voss adjusted his glasses, silver scars peeking beneath his collar where centuries-old claw marks never fully healed.
"Researching fairy tales, Miss Rivers?" His voice carried the weight of dead languages. "I'd recommend page 217 – the engraving shows intriguing parallels to quantum superposition."
The illustration depicted a wolf-headed knight embracing a silver-haired maiden, their lips separated by a glowing dagger. Lynette's tattoo pulsed in rhythm with the knight's engraved crown – identical to Caelum's pendant.
Ancient Timeline - 14th Century Bohemia
Smoke choked the alchemy workshop as Isolde grafted wolf tendons onto her son's human spine. Prince Caelum burst through stained glass, his sword dripping with the guards' blood. "You turned my brother into this... thing!"
The creature on the table snarled with Caelum's face, its eyes twin voids. "Mother perfected me," it rasped. "Now I'll wear your skin to court Elspeth."
Their duel shattered alembics, spilling mercury that pooled into the Brotherhood of the Wolf's secret sigil.
Modern Timeline - Chemistry Lab Incident
Amberleigh's Bunsen burner erupted cobalt flames. The fire coalesced into lupine shapes that howled equations: "E = γmψ² + λφ⁴!"
"Whoops," she smirked as sprinklers drenched Lynette's research notes. "Guess Isolde's pissed you found her bridal portrait."
The soggy parchment revealed a 1600s wedding portrait – Isolde in black lace beside a groom whose features shifted between Caelum and the duplicate prince.
Ancient Timeline - Betrothal Feast
Elspeth's wedding crown slipped as she danced with both princes – one warm-handed with Caelum's birthmark, the other freezing cold. "Choose wrong," Isolde whispered through poisoned champagne, "and your children shall inherit thorns instead of bones."
At midnight, the duplicate prince's skin peeled away to reveal wolf muscle. Elspeth plunged the ceremonial dagger into her own chest rather than let Isolde claim her bloodline.
Modern Timeline - Lunar Eclipse Ritual
Caelum cornered Lynette in the planetarium's shadow. "The next Spiritborn dies at eighteen unless–"
"Unless I kiss you?" She brandished the charred bestiary page showing their ancient counterparts. "How many versions of me have you watched die? Five? Fifty?"
The eclipse reached totality. Amberleigh's voice boomed through speakers with Isolde's timbre: "Let the 500th Hunt commence!"
Wolf-hybrid students materialized from light shafts, their eyes glowing like quantum entanglement experiments gone wrong.