LOGINAsher’s POVThe shadow tentacles suddenly snapped.One second I was hanging open in the cold air. The next the coils vanished like they’d never been there and gravity took me. I dropped hard, arms flailing, a curse already half out of my mouth…Xorax was already under me.He caught me by the waist before I hit the basalt, spun me, and lunged. The world tilted. My back slammed into something soft and wide – a bed I hadn’t seen in the dark, furs and silk and a mattress that still knocked the air out of my lungs. Before I could drag a full breath he was on me. His weight pinning my hips and eyes locked on my face like the fall had been part of the plan.He stared. Then he kissed me.Not gentle. Mouth hard on mine, tongue pushing past my teeth. I made a sound against his lips – protest or need, I couldn’t tell – and he only pressed deeper, one hand fisting in my hair to hold me still. When he broke the kiss he didn’t pull far. His breath stayed cool against my mouth.“This is your punish
Asher’s POV“Look at me, Asher.” His low growl went straight through my bones.I wasn’t fast enough.His cold hand shot out and locked around my chin, his fingers digging into my jaw as he forced my head up. His eyes were inches from mine, bright enough for me to see the dark specks shifting in them even in the strange light.“Looking away is disrespectful,” Xorax whispered. Breath cool against my lips. “And you have tested my patience enough for one night.”Shadows coiled tighter around my limbs and pressed me flush against his hard frame. I could feel the heat off his skin against the freezing vault air. “You break into my private archives,” he murmured, gaze sweeping down me then locking back on my eyes. “You carry an assassin’s blade. You stand in my sanctuary and tremble. Little pet.”“I am no one’s pet,” I choked out, voice raspy against the press of his aura. “Not Kaelen’s. Not yours. Not anyone’s.”A dark smile touched the corner of his pale mouth. “We will see about that,” t
Asher’s POVThe flame of my small oil lamp guttered, spat a faint spark, and went out.Pitch black flooded the subterranean archive. Every shelf, every jar of preserved tissue, every ancient codex vanished from sight. The air seemed to drop another ten degrees, and my breath turned into a pale cloud.I didn’t panic, but a sharp spike of adrenaline hit the base of my skull. Fucking hell.My boots slid silent backward across the light-absorbing basalt until my spine hit the cold wood of the iron-bound cabinet. My right hand moved inside the front fold of my tunic. Fingers closed around the cold smooth hilt of the obsidian dagger. I pulled the blade free and kept the poisoned edge angled down against my thigh where the dark metal could catch no stray glint.From the far end of the long vaulted aisle, a sound scraped against the stone.It wasn’t the clank of iron armor or the tread of a guard patrol. It was softer. Rhythmic. Infinitely worse. Bare skin or wet leather dragging across the f
Asher POVKaelen didn’t release my hand until the tall oak barrier of his private suite shut out the cold stone corridor.The brass latch clicked into place, and the sudden quiet of the room felt almost physical. Kaelen turned to me, his chest rising as a grin spread across his face. The dark tension from the council chamber seemed to melt right off him, replaced by a reckless energy."Did you see Vaelin’s face?" Kaelen said, his voice quiet but full of joy. He stepped closer, taking my chin between his thumb and forefinger. "He looked like he had swallowed glass. You shattered months of his work in ten seconds, Asher. Right in front of my father."I kept my eyes soft. "I only said what I remembered, My Prince. I didn't mean to anger the Commander.""Let him be angry," Kaelen laughed softly, his hand sliding up from my chin to rest against the side of my neck, his thumb brushing over the skin just above my collar. "You proved your worth to the whole table. My father saw it. Vaelin saw
Asher’s POVVaelin slammed a parchment scroll onto the stone table. His face was flushed.“The vanguard divisions are sitting at seventy percent combat readiness,” he said, voice sharp against the cold walls. “We cannot launch the planned sweep into the Eastern ridge lines without full winter rations and steel shipments from the lower provinces. Supplies are vanishing before they even cross the central valley.”Warlord Hoax grunted and crossed his arms. “Caravans are disappearing without a trace, Commander. Not a single wagon body left behind. No blood on the snow. It’s like the mountain passes are swallowing them whole.”“We’ve scoured every route,” Vaelin muttered, running a gloved hand through his hair. “We cannot figure out what is causing the bottleneck. If we don’t fix it within the week, the winter campaign falls apart.”The table went quiet. The warlords traded uneasy looks and low theories about border bandits or rebel sabotage.My eyes dropped to the parchment Vaelin had thr
Asher’s POVThe doors of the royal wing clicked shut behind us and cut off the low roar of the Great Hall.The silence here was different. It didn’t smell like pine smoke or roasted boar or stale winter ale. It smelled like beeswax, cold white marble, and old silver polish. Tapestries of ancient Western battles hung from the soaring stone walls and muffled our footsteps as Kaelen pulled me through the private corridors. The sound of the feast dropped away with every turn until all I could hear was our boots on stone and the quiet clink of the Vanguards’ armor somewhere behind us.He didn’t let go of my hand. His fingers stayed intertwined with mine, thumb absently rubbing the back of my knuckles.“Here,” Kaelen said, stopping before a pair of polished dark walnut doors guarded by two armored Crimson Vanguards. The guards bowed their heads at once. Their eyes lingered on me for a second before dropping to the floor.Kaelen pushed the doors open and guided me inside.The suite was vast







