Author Mara's perfect plan was coming apart. Months of scheming, gone just like that. Fury twisted her elegant features, sharpening them into something almost monstrous. She clenched her jaw so tightly her teeth creaked. She couldn't believe it. After all the pieces she had moved, after all the power she had gathered, he was still resisting. Still slipping out of her grasp. If she couldn't control him, she'd destroy whatever gave him the strength to resist. Her gaze snapped to Silvia with venomous focus. Without warning, she raised both hands. Her fingers spread wide, trembling with tension as the shadows around her responded like loyal dogs. Dark energy pooled at her fingertips, thick and writhing like liquid shadow. It pulsed like a heartbeat, alive and

