POV: Arken
Fear is a language all worlds understand.
I felt Mason’s defiance like a spark against the vast dark sea of my power—brief, futile, almost amusing. His survival was intentional. Hope is far more delicious when it is allowed to breathe before it is crushed.
The mirror of black flame rippled as the corrupted Alpha Corvin fell to one knee before me in the Shadow Court.
“You failed to kill the Beta,” I said calmly.
Corvin trembled. “The queens arrived before—”
“Silence.”
The shadows tightened around his throat, lifting him from the ground without a single movement of my hand.
“You were not sent to win,” I continued softly. “You were sent to announce me.”
His eyes widened in terror as understanding dawned.
“Now,” I whispered, “they will prepare.”
I released him. He collaps
