Damon hadn't spoken a word since they returned to the compound. Not to Ajani. Not to the soldiers. Not even to her.
Elara watched him from a distance, heart heavy with conflict. The medallion hung from his neck like a noose of fate, and his eyes—once cold and impenetrable—were haunted now.
He was remembering… something.
But not the whole truth.
Because the truth was—Elara had never loved him. Not then. Not when they were married. Not when she signed the papers. She had been ready to run away. She had been in love with another man.
A man who never came.
And now, Damon was the only one who stood between her and whatever curse this twisted fate had dragged her into.
That night, someone knocked softly on her tent flap.
She opened it. Ajani stood there, serious as always, arms folded across his chest.
"He's remembering," he said. "But he's confused. You need to be careful."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because if he finds out the truth too fast… it could break him."
Elara's throat tightened. "He deserves to know."
Ajani's eyes sharpened. "He deserves loyalty. Something neither time nor war has ever truly given him."
He left before she could reply.
---
The next day, a loud explosion shattered the silence. The munitions shed was ablaze, flames crackling in the early light. Damon barked orders, dragging soldiers from danger with inhuman strength, the medallion glinting against his chest.
Elara ran to him, breathless.
"You're hurt—"
He turned to her, soot on his brow, eyes unfocused. "I saw your face… In the fire. Like a vision. You were crying. You looked… betrayed."
Elara froze.
He didn't know why yet.
But she did.
She'd been crying that night—when Damon had found out about her escape plan. The night he died. The night the curse began.
"I need answers," he muttered. "Why do I keep seeing you in every flash? Why does it feel like I knew you before now?"
"Because we were bound," she said, choosing her words carefully. "Not by love. Not at first. But by fate."
Damon frowned. "Then why does it feel like I broke something sacred? Like I failed you?"
Because I broke the vow, she wanted to say.
Because I was running away.
But the words wouldn't come.
---
Later, Ajani returned with a captive—a bloodied scout with a broken arm and defiance in his eyes.
"Caught him near the inner vault," Ajani said. "Said he has a message."
The scout spit blood onto the floor. "The Whisperer knows. He remembers her. And the curse is awakening."
Elara stepped back. Damon's entire frame went rigid.
"The Whisperer?" Damon asked.
"He's the one who marked you," the scout hissed. "You were the general who broke the blood vow. You and the bride who ran."
Elara's breath caught.
Damon turned to her slowly. "What vow?"
Ajani stepped between them. "That's enough. Take him."
But Damon's gaze never left Elara. His voice was low, gravel-edged.
"What did I do, Elara? What did you do?"
She shook her head, tears brimming. "We were never meant to last. I was going to run. I was in love with someone else."
The air seemed to vanish between them.
"But you came back," he said softly.
"Because I died," she whispered. "And I woke up here. With you. Again."
He turned away.
Not in rage. Not in pain.
But in silence.
---
That night, the medallion pulsed with a red light.
Elara sat alone, heart hollow, when Damon stepped inside the tent.
He didn't speak. Just stood there, the ghost of who he once was hanging in his shadow.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" he asked.
"Because I thought I hated you," she replied.
He nodded slowly. "And now?"
She met his eyes. "Now I don't know."
He sat beside her, the space between them crackling with energy.
"The Whisperer cursed us because of that night," Damon murmured. "A soldier who died protecting a woman who didn't love him… And a woman who tried to escape her fate."
Elara touched the medallion. "But we're still here. Still alive."
"Then maybe the curse wasn't punishment. Maybe it's a second chance."
Elara's voice trembled. "Or maybe it's a test. To see if we're any different now."
He studied her. "Are you?"
She didn't answer right away. Instead, she reached into the folds of her jacket and brought out a tiny locket. Inside, the picture of the man she once loved. The man who betrayed her, who left her waiting in the rain.
She tossed the locket into the flames.
"Maybe I'm starting to be," she said.
Damon stared at the fire, his jaw tight. The medallion on his chest glowed faintly.
Outside, thunder rolled over the jungle. The ground trembled faintly.
Ajani burst in without warning. "We have a problem. A storm's coming. And something else."
"What?" Damon asked, already on his feet.
Ajani held up a soaked, tattered military dispatch. "Our borders have been breached. By someone not of this time."
Elara's skin went cold.
Ajani locked eyes with her. "He's looking for you."
"Who?" Damon asked.
Ajani didn't flinch. "The one she tried to run away with."
And outside the compound, in the storm, The Whisperer smiled.