Blake POV
Morning came like a threat.
The curse always slept lightly in daylight, simmering under my skin rather than tearing through it. But today, something else stirred—a cold pressure, a warning.
A summons.
The king’s seal burned against the metal plate near my door, pulsing faintly with magic.
I had no choice but to obey.
Elle still slept in my bed, curled into the blankets, her breaths soft and uneven. Blind, trembling, vulnerable… and yet she’d reached for me each time I shifted during the night. As though she sensed the moment my thoughts drifted too far away.
She was the only thing that had calmed me enough to rest at all.
Blaze grumbled in my mind.
Leaving her alone is a mistake.
“I won’t be long,” I murmured under my breath, pulling the blankets higher around her. Her
