The stone walls felt colder than usual when I slipped back into my chamber, heart pounding like a war drum. Tarek’s words still echoed in my ears.
If the bond completes before the next full moon… we unleash the creature born of shadow and ash.
What creature? What had they locked beneath this fortress? And why did the thought of it make my veins freeze?
The mark on my neck pulsed in warning, a reminder that I was tethered to a king I didn’t trust, and a war I didn’t understand.
I paced, unable to still my thoughts. The vision. Cael. Maddox. The secrets stacked higher than the stone towers outside. And now this, this… thing waiting to be unleashed.
My fingers brushed the bruising skin on my neck. The bond was changing me. I could feel it now, not just in my body, but in my mind. Emotion
