When two dark hearts connect

Chapter one Seraphine Nox’s pov I.am.not.weak. That is what I told myself when my sworn enemy,Azriel Dusk pressed his sword to my throat and whispered “Stop fighting a battle you are destined to lose,weak darkling” “Then why are you trembling,Azriel?” He was indeed shaking,but not from fear.Ancient magic thrummed through his veins,wild and alive beneath is skin.And for a heartbeat I felt it too pulsing where my blade kissed his throat In Lukomorye,magic lives in everything. Even the plants and birds whisper and speak.but only the strong minded can wield it.Azriel is one of them,one of the honoured ones,blessed with power. I am not.i am a scrub.but not one so easily discarded.to become the finest assassin in Ictus velox, I must prove that even without magic,I am stronger than those who have it. And I did.that is why my master, the head of ictus volex ,gifted me wardsbane. A flower resistant to all magic.i carry it everywhere,it does not wither,or fade . Wardsbane is the reason why his magic hasn’t affected me.wardsbane is so rare that only the leaders of the two assassin groups posses it . “Perhaps it is you who makes me tremble,darkling”. He murmured,so close I could feel his breath on my lips Azriel was a sin carved into man. 6’9,broad shoulder,lethal grace, with eyes like shattered winter ice and dark hair that fell to his shoulders,half pulled into a careless bun. He was not merely handsome he was ruinously,painfully,devastatingly handsome.The kind of beautiful that wars were started for . “Then you are a fool, I whispered,my voice tightening like a fist around the sudden,electric shift in the air between us. “Because I am not the kind of storm you survive” The cold steel vanished from my throat.the shift was instantaneous. He didn’t just pull back; he uncoiled.with a sharp flick of his wrist, he swept his blade upward in a wide, shimmering arc designed to knock my guard wide open. I didn’t flinch relying on sheer instincts , I dropped my weight,ducking beneath the lethal swipe of his blade as the wind of his passing grazed my hair. The moment my boots hit the stone, I pivoted,spinning on my heel to drive the pommel of my sword straight towards his ribs. Then,the air turned to lead. My limbs locked mid-stride,heavy and unresponsive,as if invisible chains had been wrapped tight around my bones. A familiar,suffocating pressure crushed down on my chest.A weight I would know anywhere because it was woven into the very marrow of my bone. I forced my head around,my muscles screaming in protest against the invisible grip,and looked toward the edge of the dark,rippling lake. Standing there,bathed in the moonlight, was my master. The supreme leader of Ictus volex Just the sight of him made the phantom weight of the duel drain completely from my body. Only his magic can paralyse me this way,cutting through my defenses like water. He was the architect of my survival.the shadow that had dictated every breath, every heartbeat and every command of my life.