LOGINWind screamed in my ears as I plunged headfirst into the pitch-black abyss.My stomach leaped into my throat, air tearing from my lungs as the sheer speed of the fall ripped through the darkness. The stone walls of the pit blurred past in a smear of shadows, but my mind was stuck on the terrifying image of Julian standing at the ledge above—his eyes pitch-black, crawled over by glowing red runes, a twisted smile on his face."Julian!" I screamed, my voice swallowed whole by the roaring void.My pulse thudded behind my eyes with deafening pressure. I refused to die in the dark. I focused every drop of my royal Sun-Blood into my chest, ignition blazing behind my ribs. White thermal fire erupted from both my palms, creating a massive downward blast of raw heat that slowed my terrifying descent just as the solid stone floor rushed up to meet me.I slammed onto the ground, tumbling across the rough rock in a harsh spray of dust.Pain flared sharp through my ribs as I skidded to a halt on m
The purple shadow chains bound my ankles and wrists to the floor with unbearable, icy force.Every second the dark tendrils remained locked around my flesh, a cold, parasitic vacuum pulled directly at my Sun-Blood. Beside me, Julian struggled violently, his chest heaving with deep, ragged gasps as he tried to snap the shadow chains holding his arms. His muscles bulged under his dark skin, but the First Sovereign’s ancient magic absorbed every ounce of kinetic energy he threw against it."Don't waste your strength, my boy," the First Sovereign murmured, his voice sounding like liquid velvet mixed with crushed glass.He stepped forward across the melting stone floor. His pitch-black skin seemed to swallow the light, and his eyes burned like two dying crimson suns. He stopped inches from us, staring down at our pinned bodies with a slow, terrifying smile that showed long, needle-sharp fangs."Ten thousand years," the ancient progenitor rasped, leaning down until his ice-cold breath hit m
The heavy metallic thud of the vault doors shutting echoed like a death sentence.Julian stood in front of me, his broad body trembling from severe blood loss where he had torn the First Sovereign's black parasite from his own flesh. Dark, steaming blood trickled down his ribcage, but he kept his claws extended, his silver-and-gold eyes wide with a mixture of raw betrayal and unyielding protectiveness."She won't lay a finger on you," Julian rasped, his voice a low, gravelly growl that vibrated against my shoulder as I pressed my front against his flank.Vespera didn't hesitate. She blurred forward, her obsidian blade cutting through the air in a lethal arc aimed straight for Julian’s throat.Julian reacted on pure instinct. Even weakened, his Sovereign reflexes took over. He brought his right arm up, catching Vespera’s wrist with his bare claws. The impact sent a heavy shockwave across the stone floor, cracking the ground beneath their boots."You are weak, Julian," Vespera hissed, h
Julian’s clawed hand squeezed my throat with suffocating force, crushing my airpipe and lifting my feet three inches off the stone deck."Julian..." I choked out, my fingers clawing uselessly at his thick, rock-hard wrist.My pulse thudded violently behind my eyes as black spots danced across my vision. His pitch-black eyes stared back at me—cold, hollow, and completely devoid of the silver-and-gold warmth that usually burned in his gaze."Julian is gone, girl," the First Sovereign’s ancient, double-toned voice rumbled from Julian’s lips, making the stone wall behind my head vibrate. "His blood belongs to his creator now.""No!" I rasped, my chest heaving with fast, desperate gasps. "He... he belongs to me!"I channeled a sharp needle of pure white thermal fire straight into the palm of my right hand and slammed it directly into Julian’s chest.The heat seared into his flesh, but Julian didn't even flinch. He let out a low, dark laugh, his broad frame stepping closer until his body wa
The suffocating, pitch-black cold radiating from the abyss hit us like a solid iron wall.My skin broke into a harsh, icy prickle as my lungs seized. Beside me, Julian didn't yield an inch. His broad frame locked against mine, his left arm tightening like a steel clamp around my waist to hold my back flush against his chest.His heart thundered against my spine in heavy, violent thuds, his hot, heavy breath scalding the bare skin of my neck as he stared down at the rising monstrosity."Stay behind me, Elena," Julian growled, his voice dropping into a lethal, low vibration that shook through my back."Not a chance," I gasped, my pulse thudding behind my eyes as white-hot Sun-Fire flared across my knuckles. "We face this together."The massive, clawed shadow-hand tightened its grip on the crumbling stone edge of the bridge, crushing solid rock to powder. Slowly, the giant figure pulled itself out of the hundred-foot pit.The First Sovereign stood towering over us, his skin translucent p
The blinding, white-hot solar shockwave detonated from the Sun-Core like a dying star, tearing through the vault chamber with apocalyptic force.Stone walls disintegrated into fine ash in a fraction of a second. The heat was instantaneous and suffocating—a wave of raw thermal destruction that threatened to vaporize our bones before we could even draw breath.My breath hitched in my throat as my knees buckled under the searing pressure."Elena!" Julian roared.He didn't run. He spun my body around, hauling me flat against his chest and throwing his massive frame over mine as the blinding explosion hit us. He slammed us down onto the stone bridge floor, using his back as a physical shield while his arms locked around my waist like iron vices, pinning my pelvis flush against his hard length."Absorb it!" Julian snarled into my neck, his voice a lethal, desperate rasp against my skin. "Open the mark fully! Give me everything!"The Thrall Bond between us detonated in an electric furnace. T







