LOGINANWEN'S POVRhydan thrust inside, and I screamed.There was no gentleness in him now—if he'd shown restraint before, it was utterly gone. He slammed into me with a savagery that should have frightened me, but instead, I reveled in it. The door shook with each powerful stroke, my back pressed hard against the unforgiving wood, and all I could do was hold on, my nails digging crescents into the oak behind me as he drove into me."Yes," I gasped, my head falling forward onto his shoulder, already feeling the promise of his hot release spilling inside me. "Please."He went faster in response, his hips snapping against mine with brutal force. The door rattled in its frame, the sound of wood striking stone echoing through the room. And through the haze of pleasure, I remembered—they were still there. Fenric and Brammon, just on the other side of this thin barrier, listening to every sound, every scream, every slap of skin against skin.The knowledge sent fresh arousal surging through me. I
ANWEN'S POVRhydan's hands gripped my waist, hauling me from the spring with such sudden force that I squealed. My legs wrapped instinctively around his hips, my arms circling his neck as I clung to him.He climbed out of the pool, reached for the cloak I'd discarded earlier, and draped it over my shoulders. The fabric settled around me, covering me.He made no effort to cover himself.For a moment, he simply stood there in the torchlight, water streaming down the hard planes of his body, his arousal evident and unapologetic.He carried me out of the cave, the wind biting at my bare legs where they wrapped around his waist. We rounded the base of the mountain until we reached the entrance to Blackreach.He took the spiral staircase two steps at a time, moving with a confidence that bordered on arrogance. Guards and servants passed us, their expressions barely changing. Perhaps they were used to seeing him like this. Or perhaps they were simply too afraid to stare—or even risk a quick
RHYDAN'S POVI watched her seize, her body convulsing violently it seemed her bones might shatter against me. Her eyes had gone distant, hollow and unfocused, and for one horrible instant, I could no longer see Anwen in them."Anwen." My voice cracked, raw terror shredding my throat. "No!"The word echoed through the cavern, but she didn't hear me. Couldn't hear me. I did this to her.Just as I had done to the others before her. Their bodies had broken beneath the inferno of what I was.I had convinced myself it would be different with Anwen. That I would be different with her. Better.I swore I would control the beast this time, that I would leash the dragon and keep her alive.But I failed.My restraint shattered. Every spark of flame, every ounce of savage need, I had poured into her. And now she was burning from the inside.Now she was dying.I knew all too well what would happen next. I had memorized it in nightmares.The convulsions would give way to stillness, and then the blo
ANWEN'S POVBy the time Rhydan finally lifted his mouth from me, my voice was nothing but shredded silk, raw from screaming his name until my throat burned. I lay there against the stone, gasping, my chest heaving as I tried to catch my breath, my body still twitching from the aftershocks. Then his hands gripped my waist.He dragged me toward him with a force that scraped my back against the edge, and I looked up to find his amber eyes blazing, the color bleeding toward crimson, wild and unhinged. Panic and anticipation tangled together inside me.He was far from done. He looked at me like I was prey he hadn't finished devouring."Rhydan," I panted, holding up a trembling hand. "Just give me a moment. Please."He wasn't listening."You woke up the dragon, Anwen," he snarled, and the sound vibrated through my bones, making my core clench despite my exhaustion. His grip tightened around my waist, his fingers digging firmly into my skin. "And now you’re going to have to face the conse
ANWEN'S POVI looped my arms around Rhydan’s neck as though I were drowning, and he was the only thing keeping me above the surface. The water lapped warmly around us, but my skin burned hotter.My mouth pressed to his neck first—a fleeting brush of my lips against the pulse hammering there—then traced my way upward along his jaw, the rough stubble prickling my skin, before finally reaching his lips.I coaxed. I tempted. I begged him to answer me, to open himself to me.I pressed my breast against the hard plane of his chest, feeling the muscles there, the strength coiled tight. His jaw tightened beneath my mouth—a warning, a resistance—and I should have heeded it.Instead, I grew bolder, sweeping my tongue along the seam of his lips, trying to pry them apart, trying to take what I wanted.His hand snapped up and gripped my face. Hard.His fingers dug into my jaw as he pulled me back, and I winced at the sudden sting of pain that shot across my skin."You're really that desperate, are
ANWEN'S POVIn the days that followed, I kept trying to find the right moment to ask the three kings about the summons. After all, Fenric had said they would talk to me about it soon.But somehow, every attempt ended the same way.Whenever I brought it up, my question was either conveniently dodged, ignored altogether, or shut down before I could even finish asking.It was becoming increasingly frustrating.Today, I decided I was going to try again.I checked their chambers, their private studies, the library, and even my little garden, but there was no sign of any of them.I sighed heavily. Maybe they had gone away again.So, since I was already up and about, I decided I might as well continue my stroll around Blackreach. Not to look for them, of course, but simply to keep myself occupied until they returned.I headed for the lift and spent the next while wandering through the fortress, stepping off on levels I had never bothered to explore before and revisiting the ones I already li
BRAMMON'S POVI heard him before I saw him.The crack of wings split the air above my labyrinth, sharp enough to shiver through the stone beneath my feet. A heartbeat later came the reckless dive, ending in a heavy thud on the balcony overhead.I already knew—he was in a foul mood.Either Galenor h
ANWEN'S POVI woke with a shiver, pain lancing through my side like fire as darkness pressed in on all sides. For a moment, my mind betrayed me, dragging me back into the cramped, suffocating wagon compartment, the stench of fish and rotting wood clinging to my senses as sharply as ever.Then some
ANWEN'S POVTwenty years later.Monsters rule the world now.They don’t hide in shadows or lurk beneath beds. They sit in councils. They wear crowns. They walk our roads in broad daylight as if the world belongs to them.Because it does.They call themselves the Scions—magic wielders, shifters, and
It hurt.A sharp, tearing brilliance bloomed beneath Azara’s skin as though her own light had turned against her.Radiants like her were not meant to bleed, nor to know agony such as this. Pain belonged to mortal flesh, to bone and blood and fragile breath. Not to beings wrought from pure illuminat







