Her Curse, Their Claim

ottom shimmered faintly, pulsing with old magic. But it was the fifth circle - the unknown symbol etched beneath the Queen's mark - that shook her most. "I don't know what it means," Seren

her skin when she touched it. "That was yours. Before the spell. Before we erased the truth." "Why?" she whispered. "Because if you remember who the fifth is... you'll want him. You'll choose him. And the rest of us? We'll be dust." Back in her room, Seren traced the fifth circle on a blank page. It wasn't a house crest. It wasn't a school rune. It was a soul mark. One that hadn't appeared on any of the known students. Until now. She opened her phone - a grainy group photo from Orientation Week. Students gathering. Teachers smiling. And in the background, nearly out of frame: The Academy's most mysterious professor. Professor Aric Vael. The one who'd looked at her like she'd broken his heart. The one who'd never touched her. The one who had her exact eyes. "No," she whispered. "He can't be-" But the truth was already clear. The fifth bond wasn't a monster boy. He was something older. Her soulmate. As Seren read from the old journal, her pulse began to race. Symbols in the book glowed. The mirror behind her cracked further. The room pulsed like a living heart. Kael grabbed her wrist. "Put it down. Now." Too late. The air split open with a sound like glass shattering underwater. The Vault was pulling her into a vision - not a memory, but a trial. A test locked in her blood, triggered by the Fifth Mark awakening. Her knees buckled. Her world turned white. And then- She stood in the ruins of a battlefield, drenched in blood and ash. Four bodies lay at her feet. Kael. Talon. Rhys. Elias. Dead. All because of her. The fifth stood across from her, face still hidden in shadow. "You loved them," he said. "But you were always mine." And then he raised his hand - and the world burned. When Seren came to, the Vault was ablaze - not from flame, but magic. Elias had drawn a protective circle around her, shadows hissing at the edges. Talon was cursing, trying to pry the book from her hands. Kael's eyes were black with panic. "You were gone for hours," Kael said. "But you never moved." "The trial," Elias murmured. "She survived it. That means the Fifth is waking." "We need to tell someone," Talon muttered. "Who?" Seren asked, still shaking. "Who can we trust?" "The Headmistress," Elias off