Darkness came in waves.
Aria drifted in and out of it, consciousness, clinging to frayed threads. Her head throbbed, a dull ache spreading behind her eyes, down her spine, into her bones. The first thing she noticed was the smell—cold stone, iron, and something faintly medicinal.
The second thing—
The absence.
No Dominic.
No Adrian.
No comforting pull of warmth through the mate bond.
Panic slammed into her chest.
Aria gasped, jerking awake.
Chains rattled.
Her wrists were bound above her head, silver threaded with something darker—runes etched deep into the metal. The floor beneath her bare feet was cold marble, veins of black stone curling like shadows trapped in rock. Her magic stirred instinctively—and slammed into a wall.
Blocked.
Suppressed.
Her wolf snarled, clawing at t
