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CHAPTER 34: Shadows and Secrets

Author: Romance Addict
last update publish date: 2026-03-25 20:07:37

"Get that thing out of here," I said, pointing at the Shadow Crown. "I don't care where. Just away from me."

Ezra gestured to the guards. They approached it cautiously, like it might explode.

"Don't touch it directly," he warned. "Use a cloth. Silver, if you have it."

They wrapped it carefully and carried it away.

I stared at the spot where it had been. The stone floor was darker there now. Stained.

"Three days," Caspian said. "We have three days to figure out what we're walking into."

"Or to f
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  • BOUGHT BY THE BEAST   CHAPTER 36: The Siege Begins

    The throne room was chaos.Warriors running in every direction. Healers setting up triage stations. Council members shouting conflicting orders.I limped in still pulling on armor, Caspian at my side."Report!" he barked.A guard captain turned. "Three breach points. East wall, south gate, and they're tunneling under the west tower. Shadow Court mages are creating portals. We can't stop them all.""Morgessa?" I asked."Leading the assault on the east wall. Your Majesty, she's summoning things. Creatures from the void. Untouchable creatures."Just like the Shade.Perfect."How long can we hold?" Caspian demanded."Hours. Maybe less if they keep opening portals.""Evacuate the civilians. Seal the--"Another explosion cut him off. The entire building shook.Through the bond, I felt Caspian's cold calculation. We were outmatched. Outnumbered. And fighting enemies we barely understood."We need to close the portals," Ezra said, appearing with a bloody sword. "That's their supply line. Cut

  • BOUGHT BY THE BEAST   CHAPTER 35: The Price of Survival

    The power felt like being torn apart from the inside.Not pain exactly. Worse. Like every cell in my body was being rewritten. Replaced. Transformed into something else entirely.I couldn't stop screaming.Through the bond, I felt Caspian's terror. His desperate need to intervene."Don't move," Nyx called out to wherever he was hiding. "If you disrupt the ritual now, she dies. Painfully."The ritual circle pulsed brighter. The symbols on the ground began to crawl up my legs like living things.The void corruption in my arm reacted violently. The frozen shadows started moving again, fighting against whatever Nyx was doing.Two types of darkness warring inside me."That's it," Nyx murmured. "Let them fight. Let the void burn out against the shadow. That's how purification works.""You said... you said you'd cure me," I gasped between screams."I am curing you. The void will be gone. Completely." She circled the ritual space, chanting in a language I didn't recognize. "But nature abhors

  • BOUGHT BY THE BEAST   CHAPTER 34: Shadows and Secrets

    "Get that thing out of here," I said, pointing at the Shadow Crown. "I don't care where. Just away from me."Ezra gestured to the guards. They approached it cautiously, like it might explode."Don't touch it directly," he warned. "Use a cloth. Silver, if you have it."They wrapped it carefully and carried it away.I stared at the spot where it had been. The stone floor was darker there now. Stained."Three days," Caspian said. "We have three days to figure out what we're walking into.""Or to find another option," Ezra added. "The search for Morgessa is still active. Maybe--""Maybe nothing." I turned away from the stain. "Morgessa's in the Shadowlands. Unreachable. And even if we found her, she'd never cure me willingly.""So we're stuck with Nyx.""We're stuck with Nyx."Through the bond, I felt Caspian's frustration. His desperate need to fix this and his inability to do so."I need air," I said.I left before either of them could protest.The Keep's gardens were quiet this time of

  • BOUGHT BY THE BEAST   CHAPTER 33: The Temple Ruins

    The temple ruins sat on a hill outside the city walls.Ancient stone. Crumbling columns. The kind of place where bad things happened in stories.Perfect setting for a trap.I rode alone, as instructed. My corrupted arm throbbed with each heartbeat. The shadows had spread to my collarbone now. I could feel them creeping toward my throat.Days. I had days left.Through the bond, I felt Caspian nearby. Hidden in the tree line with Ezra and a dozen warriors. Close enough to intervene. Far enough not to be seen.Supposedly.The moon was full, casting silver light across the ruins. Making the shadows deeper. More threatening.I dismounted. Tied my horse to a fallen pillar."I'm here," I called out. "As requested."Silence.Then movement in the shadows.A figure stepped into the moonlight.Not Morgessa.A woman I'd never seen before. Young. Beautiful. Dark hair and darker eyes. Dressed in robes that seemed to absorb light."Your Majesty," she said, her voice smooth. "Thank you for coming.""

  • BOUGHT BY THE BEAST   CHAPTER 32: Rebellion

    The first assassination attempt came three days later.I was in the council chambers reviewing reports when an arrow punched through the window and embedded itself in the chair where my head had been moments before.I'd bent down to pick up a dropped document.Pure luck.Through the bond, Caspian's alarm exploded. He was in the training yards but he felt my spike of fear immediately.Guards burst into the room, surrounding me. Ezra appeared from nowhere, already moving toward the window."Rooftop across the courtyard," he said, scanning. "They're gone."I stared at the arrow. Black fletching. No markings.Professional."That's the third attempt this week," Ezra said grimly. "Poison in your food. The sabotaged staircase. Now this.""Someone's getting desperate.""Someone wants you dead before the corruption does the job for them." He pulled the arrow from the chair, examining it. "They're not even trying to hide it anymore."Caspian arrived within minutes, still in training clothes, br

  • BOUGHT BY THE BEAST   CHAPTER 31: Infected

    "Get the healer," Caspian called out, his voice deadly calm. "Now."He was staring at my wrist where the shadows moved beneath my skin. Slow. Deliberate. Like something alive.Through the bond, I felt his terror."It doesn't hurt," I said. Which was true. The pain had dulled. That should've been reassuring.It wasn't."That's worse." Caspian carefully rewrapped the bandage. "If you can't feel it spreading, we don't know how far it's gone."The healer arrived within minutes. The same older woman who'd treated me after the blood ritual. She took one look at my wrist and her face went pale."Shade corruption," she said quietly. "I was afraid of this.""What does that mean?" I asked."The Shade's touch doesn't just damage flesh, it leaves behind... fragments. Pieces of the void it came from." She unwrapped my wrist fully, examining the blackened skin. "It spreads slowly. Quietly. Until it reaches something vital.""How do we stop it?""I don't know." Her honesty was refreshing if terrifyi

  • BOUGHT BY THE BEAST   CHAPTER 13: The Breaking Point

    Caspian didn't come back that night.I felt him through the bond, running through the woods surrounding the safe house, pushing his body to exhaustion in a desperate attempt to outrun emotions he couldn't control.It didn't work. I felt every spike of rage, every wave of self-loathing, every moment

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-17

  • BOUGHT BY THE BEAST   CHAPTER 8: Blood in the Penthouse

    The penthouse was in one of those buildings where the lobby alone probably cost more than most houses.All marble and glass and doormen in uniforms that looked more expensive than anything I'd ever owned. David pulled up to the front like we belonged there, handed his keys to the valet, an

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-17

  • BOUGHT BY THE BEAST   CHAPTER 14: Homecoming

    Caspian's private home wasn't what I expected.I'd pictured something dark and fortified like the safe houses. All concrete and weapons caches and paranoia.Instead, we pulled up to a cabin in the mountains. Wood and glass and windows that overlooked a valley so beautiful it didn't seem real. Isola

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-17

  • BOUGHT BY THE BEAST   CHAPTER 15: The Rescue

    David had been taken to an abandoned factory on the edge of werewolf territory.Marcus wasn't even trying to hide. He wanted us to come. Wanted the confrontation."It's a trap," I said, staring at the building through binoculars."Obviously." Caspian was loading weapons with methodical efficiency.

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-17
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