Kaelin’s POV
The inner sanctum smelled of copper, hot grease, and the distinct, acidic tang of fear.
I stripped off my heavy velvet robes, leaving my torso bare to the damp chill of the subterranean room. In the mirror, my reflection looked haggard. The skin over my collarbones hung thin, the grey, spidery veins of the shadow-poison pulsing erratically beneath the surface like buried worms. Without the Spark, my body treated the stolen elementals like heavy water, constantly rejecting the foreign frequencies, constantly breaking down the human tissue to accommodate the magic.
The heavy iron door grated open. Drake entered, accompanied by two silver-barded Enforcers who were dragging a massive, dark-furred wolf between them.
The prisoner was an Alpha from the northern logging clans - a
