The knife bites into my palm, blood welling in time with my heartbeat. Around me, the ancient stones of the Binding Circle pulse with failing light. Twenty years of devotion, of silence, of swallowing my pride—all culminating in this moment. I say the words, voice raw but steady, and feel the invisible chain around my soul snap like rotten rope. Pain crashes through me, buckling my knees, but I don’t fall. I won’t.

I hear them coming—boots on stone, Julian’s voice roaring my name. He thinks he can stop it. He thinks he can take it back. But the bond is broken. I’m free.

When he bursts into the clearing, eyes wild, face twisted with grief and fury, all he sees is the blood, the shattered circle, and me—standing tall, finally whole.

‘You don’t get to do this!’ he shouts. ‘We’re fated!’

I wipe my blade clean and meet his gaze. ‘I was your destiny. Now I’m your reckoning.’

He takes a step forward. ‘Come back. Let me fix this.’

Behind me, the forest opens to a path I’ve never walked—one with no guarantees, no promises, only possibility. My hand rests on the hilt of my dagger. I have seconds to decide: walk away… or let him pull me back into the lie.