POV: Riley
The scream ripped through the palace at exactly midnight.
It wasn’t loud in the way of sound.
It was loud in the way magic breaks.
I shot upright in bed as the walls shuddered with a pulse of silver light, every bond-thread inside my chest jerking so violently it stole the air from my lungs.
“Damieon—”
I was already moving.
Alex burst from her room at the same moment I staggered into the corridor, both of us barefoot, hearts pounding in unison. Another wave tore through the palace—stronger this time—shattering hanging crystals and rattling the ancient wards beneath the stone.
The nursery doors blew open.
Silver fire crawled across the floor like living lightning.
Mason was already inside, thrown back against the far wall by the force. David stood at the threshold, shie
