Juliette’s POV
The chamber’s pulse tightened around me, heavy and rhythmic, echoing through my bones. The glowing symbols brightened as the figure in the shadows stepped forward. My heartbeat stopped, then slammed back into motion, hard enough to shake my ribs.
I knew that walk.
I knew that presence.
I knew that aura of cold, precise darkness.
It was him.
The intruder.
My breath caught, but I didn’t say his name aloud. Not here. Not now. Not with the chamber listening to every heartbeat.
He lingered just beyond the glow of the symbols, as if the ancient light refused to illuminate him. My Omega senses flared violently, reacting to his nearness. My claws pushed through my fingers. Power rippled through my skin like heat rising off desert dunes.
He shouldn’t be here.
He shouldn’t h
