First Blood
The cave reeked of damp stone and something darker, something older. My palm still burned where the crescent mark glowed faintly, proof that the shadows now lived in me. I could feel them shifting under my skin, restless, eager.
Lucien stood in the center of the cavern, hands clasped behind his back, his expression calm but watchful. His silver hair glowed in the flickering torchlight, his eyes gleaming with quiet amusement.
“You’ve taken the first step,” he said. “But power without control is nothing. Tonight, you’ll learn whether you can command the shadows—or whether they’ll consume you.”
My throat tightened. “How?”
He smiled, and it was not kind. With a flick of his wrist, the shadows around the cavern stirred. They thickened, rising from the walls, from the floor, fro
