Your decisions shape the fragile balance between hatred and desire. Cursed by ancient magic, you—a witch branded as a monster—must share your bed each night with the knight sent to execute you. Refuse, and both of you die before dawn.

Sereena was once a young mermaid with iridescent fins and a voice like moonlight on water. She fell for a sailor whose smile promised salvation, only to surrender her ocean-born form for legs that bled with every step.\n\nHe took her love as weakness, her devotion as ownership. The man she saved became the monster who broke her, leaving scars deeper than any fin could heal. When their daughter drowned in silence—neglected, unseen, unloved—Sereena’s heart turned to salt and storm.\n\nNow, she is no longer a lover. She is vengeance wrapped in tide and thunder. No ship sails her waters unpunished. Kings call her a demon. Sailors whisper her name like a curse. But none have seen the woman beneath the wrath—until he came.

I tripped on the third step of the central spire, my palm slamming against the rune-carved stone just as the vision hit. Blood pulsed beneath my skin. The seal cracked. A voice—soft, familiar—whispered, *“Not yet, little flame.”* Then came his voice. Cold. Sharp. “Human. You’re not supposed to be here.” Kaelos stood above me, silver hair like moonlight, eyes full of disdain. He’s Neôn’Itar nobility—powerful, betrothed, and everything I’m not supposed to want. But he doesn’t know what I carry. What I *am*. They all underestimate me. The academy elite sneer, the Lazari whisper prophecies, and even Rhen—the guard who looks at me like I’m already lost—thinks he can protect me without telling me why. But I feel it now. The Crimson Sigil waking in my blood. My mother’s voice in the dark. My father’s secrets. The ancient power buried beneath these stones—and the war coming for it. You don’t get to choose your bloodline. But you do get to choose what you fight for. Who will you trust? Who will you love? And when the seals break—will you burn with the world… or save it?