Scarlet chains

Chapter 9--Both heaven and hell

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Nova's hands trembled as she stared at the locket.

Then she snapped it shut and threw it back at Wolf's chest.

"My mother died," she said, voice sharp and shaking. "And I buried her myself. Alone. In the rain. With dirt under my nails and no one to help me."

Wolf caught the locket but said nothing.

"You don't get to talk about her," she growled, eyes glinting with something darker. "You weren't there. You weren't there when she screamed in pain. When she stopped breathing. When I begged her to wake up."

Dominic took a step forward, but she held up her hand.

"No. Don't."

Wolf's face finally lost that smug calm. "Nova—"

"You don't get to say my name like you know me," she snapped. "You didn't raise me. You didn't protect me. You let them take me."

Silence. Thick. Heavy.

The heart monitor beeped faster—*beep beep beepbeepbeep—*

And suddenly the lights above flickered. A gust of air slammed through the room. Her eyes widened.

Dominic looked around sharply. "Nova… your aura—"

Her body glowed faintly, veins beneath her skin pulsing gold and crimson.

Wolf's voice turned low. Serious. "She's awakening again. The hybrid blood… it's reacting to her rage."

Nova's fists clenched."I don't care what blood I have. I'm not yours. And I'm not a weapon."

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Nova's eyes blazed gold, threaded with crimson as she stood—defiant, powerful, terrifying.

"So get lost," she growled, voice layered with something ancient and unnatural. "Go into hiding. And don't even think about going near my little sister…"

The temperature in the room dropped, then *spiked*.

"…or all hell will break loose."

Suddenly, the ground beneath her *cracked*, glowing with fiery red veins. The air warped. A sound—like a scream from a thousand mouths—ripped through the hospital walls.

A *portal* exploded open behind her, a swirling storm of shadow, fire, and light. Screams echoed from within—human, beast, demon. The scent of ash filled the air.

Dominic stumbled back. "Nova—what is that?!"

Wolf's face went pale. "Impossible…"

Flames licked around the edges of the portal, forming clawed hands and jagged wings. Figures began to emerge—warped, winged, howling. But none dared cross the edge. They stood in reverence.

Because *she* had opened it.

Nova stood in the center of it all—untouched by the fire, power thrumming under her skin like a storm barely contained.

"She's not just vampire and wolf," Wolf whispered. "She's… chosen."

Dominic stared at her. "Chosen by who?"

A new voice echoed from the portal

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The voice from the portal coiled through the air, rich and unholy.

*"She is the balance—the wrath of angels and the mercy of devils. Born of blood and pain. She is mine."*

From the fire, a tall shadowed figure stepped forward—horned, cloaked in smoke. *The Devil* himself.

"I chose you, Nova," he said, voice like velvet over broken glass. "Because even Heaven fears what you could become. But I don't."

Nova scoffed. "Yeah? Well I didn't ask to be chosen by anyone."

He tilted his head. "You will, one day. When the world burns, and only you stand between salvation and ruin."

She stepped forward, calm and cold. "Save the prophecy crap."

With a flick of her wrist, the fire bent toward her—then *snapped* shut, the portal collapsing with a violent gust of wind that blew the hospital doors wide open.

Everyone stared in stunned silence.

She turned to Wolf. "Try anything—come near my sister, lie to me again, or breathe wrong—"

Her voice dropped, sharp as a blade.

"—and I'll end you."

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Then, without another word, she walked out, her hospital gown fluttering like a queen's cape. Power radiated off her like a second skin.

She was heading home.