Alec's fingers curled behind his back. He could still feel the weight of that long-ago judgment — the chains of divine fire, the echoing voice of the unseen god that cursed him.
> "You will live. Forever. Until she is born. Until she chooses."
But that prophecy had twisted with time. Choose what? To save him? To destroy him? Even the gods were never clear. That was the point — they loved their games.
He turned back to Mirei. "You said three hours ago?"
"Yes. I already dispatched a shadow team to monitor the hospital. No contact. Observation only. Until you decide."
He gave a quiet nod. "Good."
Mirei hesitated again, then spoke softer. "Alec… what will you do when you meet her?"
He didn't answer.
---
Elsewhere – Reykjavík, Iceland
The hospital room smelled of antiseptic and joy — the kind that only exists in the first cry of a newborn child.
The baby girl lay wrapped in white, her eyes still shut. She was utterly ordinary — no halo, no storms, no divine flame.
But in the air above her crib, reality shimmered — unnoticed by all but one.
Far beyond human sight, two figures watched from a fold in space.
One was cloaked in silver starlight, her face veiled, a staff in hand. She radiated divinity — the kind that silenced prayers.
> The Goddess.
The other towered beside her — horned, draped in smoke and shadow, eyes like glowing pits of magma. He cracked a smile that could wither planets.
> The King of Hell.
"She's the one," said the goddess. Her voice echoed in layers, like the universe was speaking all at once.
"Fate finally makes its move," the King mused. "And the immortal thinks this will be his salvation."
"He is mistaken," she said coldly. "The girl is not his redemption. She is his reckoning."
They vanished in a whisper of light and flame.
---
Back in New York
Alec sat in the darkened penthouse, staring at the rain.
He didn't know why the gods had cursed him. Not really. He remembered fragments — a war, a betrayal, a dying plea. But the centuries had blurred the edges.
He only knew this:
Whoever that girl was...
She held his freedom — or his doom — in her hands.
> And either way, the gods were watching.
---