SMITTEN BY HER (unedited)

He never fails what he loves. 🥹🥲

Midnight Battle

The air exploded.

Sophia barely had time to breathe before a searing bolt of dark energy scorched past her cheek, burning the edge of her sleeve. Lucius pushed her behind him, eyes sharp, expression unreadable.

"Don't let them separate us," he growled.

But it was too late.

The garden convulsed. The constellations above shattered into streaks of light, like the sky itself was bleeding. Roots twisted upward, trying to shield Sophia, but the cloaked figures tore through the garden like shadows on fire.

Sophia spun, raw energy flooding her veins. Her hands pulsed with light as her instincts took over.

"You’re not taking me!" she screamed, thrusting her palms forward.

A blast of power surged from her, slamming into two attackers. They flew backward, crashing into the floating vines, which wrapped around them like sentient chains.

Lucius hurled a ball of blue lightning, splitting the floor of the floating garden. A figure leapt over the gap with inhuman grace and tackled him midair.

They fell.

Sophia gasped. "Lucius!"

He didn't answer.

Something shifted behind her.

Before she could turn, a sharp sting pierced her neck. Her scream died in her throat as her vision blurred. The floating world tilted. Gravity betrayed her.

Then—blackness.

---

Unknown Time – Council’s Hidden Fortress

The room was steel. Cold. Dim.

Chains bound her wrists. Her ankles. Even her powers felt gagged, muffled like someone had drawn a curtain inside her soul.

"She’s awake," a voice said.

Sophia opened her eyes. The pain in her neck pulsed with each heartbeat. Her vision cleared—

And there she was.

Aunt Rachel.

Not in the tired wrappers and suspicious smiles of back home in Nigeria. No. Now, she wore a high-collared cloak, dark crimson, embroidered with strange silver markings.

Council markings.

Sophia blinked, sure it was a dream. "Aunty...?"

Rachel smiled—a slow, cruel thing. "Ah, my little niece. Finally, you’ve bloomed."

"You... you’re one of them?"

Rachel chuckled. "One of them? I trained them. I’m the Council’s second blade. Your mother may have birthed the power, but I carved the path."

Sophia struggled against her chains. Her energy sparked, but fizzled. "You sold me. You sold me to them."

"To give you a chance," Rachel said, stepping closer. "I couldn’t let your powers surface too early. You needed pressure. Fire. Only trauma births greatness."

Sophia’s voice cracked. "You’re sick."

Rachel crouched. Her eyes were fever-bright. "You have no idea what’s coming. The Council doesn’t just want your power, Sophia. They want your blood. You’re the last living Gateborn. If they drain you—"

"Then they open the gates," Sophia whispered, remembering Lucius’s words.

Rachel nodded. "And I? I become immortal."

Suddenly, a scream echoed through the compound—raw, electric.

Lucius.

He was fighting his way in.

The walls trembled. Lights flickered.

"You think he’ll save you?" Rachel hissed. "He was your mother’s protector. He failed her. He’ll fail you."

"You're wrong," Sophia whispered, her eyes glowing. "He never fails what he loves."

Rachel's smirk wavered.

Sophia’s chains began to shake. Her heart pounded like a war drum. Her mother’s face—burned into her mind. Her father's absence. The childhood that never was. The betrayal.

The storm inside her roared.

"You should’ve killed me when you had the chance," Sophia growled.

Then she exploded.

Light erupted from her skin, cracking the chains like glass. Energy surged through the floor, up the walls, into the ceiling. The power of her legacy—of every Gateborn before her—awakened.

The door flew open. Lucius stumbled in, bloodied but burning with lightning.

"Took you long enough," Sophia said, her feet lifting from the ground.

Lucius grinned. "Just in time to watch you rewrite the stars."

Rachel screamed. A blade made of void appeared in her hand. "You don’t understand! You’ll destroy everything!"

Sophia raised her hand, her locket glowing on her chest. "Then let it burn."

The clash was cataclysmic.

Rachel lunged—Sophia met her midair. Power collided. The room detonated with light and shadow. Windows shattered. The walls cracked. Time stuttered.

Lucius threw his hand out, stabilizing the space around them.

The fight moved beyond the physical. They battled through memories. Through echoes. Through realms unseen.

Sophia saw herself as a child—sobbing in Rachel’s arms who was just in acting.

She saw her mother, fighting alone, bleeding light.

She saw the moment Lucius found her—chained, beaten, but burning with fire.

And then—

She saw the gates.

Massive. Ancient. Standing at the edge of existence.

Waiting.

"You were born for this," Lucius whispered, appearing beside her in the mindscape.

Sophia’s voice shook. "What if I open them? What if I become what they fear?"

Lucius looked at her with nothing but truth. "Then we’ll face it. Together."

Sophia turned to Rachel, who now knelt—cracked, breaking, begging.

"Please," Rachel gasped. "We’re family."

"You were never my family," Sophia said.

She raised her hand.

And the Council’s fortress fell.

---

Aftermath – Rooftop Garden (Restored)

Sophia stood in the garden once more. The stars above had returned, calm and endless. Flowers bloomed around her, their colors brighter than ever.

Lucius stood beside her, silent.

She held the locket. Her mother's locket.

"What now?" she asked.

Lucius looked at her. "Now? We rewrite the rules."

Sophia smiled, the strength of her legacy pulsing beneath her skin.

"Then let’s begin."

---

To Be Continued...