BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

The next day came cloaked in a shadowed haze, like most mornings in the Underworld. Velma woke before Lucian, sitting in silence near the low-burning embers of the hearth. Today would be the beginning—her first day working in Azarel's chamber.

She and Lucian had managed to craft a convincing enough story to pass her off as one of the newly reassigned maids, transferred from the southern towers. Lucian had adjusted her scent just enough to veil her humanity. It wouldn't fool everyone, especially not Azarel if he looked too closely, but it was a start.

Lucian stirred as she dressed in the simple gray garb of the servants, her hair tied back, her posture purposeful.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked, sitting up.

"I have to be," Velma answered.

He gave a reluctant nod. "They expect you at the chamber by the ninth bell."

Velma sat on the edge of the stone bench, staring into the dim flickers of firelight. Her thoughts wandered.

"My parents…" she said softly. "My in-laws. Mrs. Williams. My friends. They must be looking for me."

Lucian sat beside her. "They are."

"Is there any way to contact them? To let them know I'm okay?"

He shook his head. "No. The Underworld is sealed. No messages go in or out—not unless Azarel himself commands it. And he doesn't even remember who you are."

Velma closed her eyes, pain flickering across her face.

"I wonder if they think I'm dead," she whispered.

Lucian didn't answer.

A long silence stretched between them.

"For the first time," Velma said, voice barely audible, "I think I regret meeting him again. After four years of peace. Four years of believing we were just… normal."

Lucian looked at her. "You were never just normal. Neither was he."

"I would have rather not known," she said, eyes glistening. "I would have rather kept the lie than lose him like this."

Lucian didn't speak again, but the silence between them was no longer empty.

It was heavy—with grief, with hope, and with the unbearable burden of what they were about to do.

Tomorrow, she would step into Azarel's world.

And nothing would ever be the same again