XENIA'S POVAfter the fire, the palace seemed smaller. Once-unshakable stone walls now pressed in like a tomb around me. The murmurs followed me everywhere, reverberating even when I was by myself, curling through hallways, and sliding beneath doors. "The chamber was burned by her." "Xenia is no longer here." "The heir of the architect...Until I was barely able to breathe, every word stuck to my skin. Rico put a steady, warm hand on my shoulder, but it wasn't enough. Not against the weight of my inner burden. Inside my veins, the shard had reincarnated rather than died. With each heartbeat, its fire murmured in my blood.I would shatter them if I remained here. Burn them. Verify the accuracy of every muttered fear. So I decided. I said in a raw voice, "I can't stay." It will be worse if I do. For everyone.”Green fire raged in Rico's eyes as it battled the darkness below. His jaw tightened like a rock under stress. "Stop saying that. Don't you dare— "”I'm not inquiring." My t
XENIA'S POVThe room was on fire. Shadows ripped through stone, flames whipped the air, and I could hear the Architect's voices thundering in my head. Every word that was not spoken came to life, piercing my bones and rekindling every doubt I had ever suppressed. Burn to death. Burn to death. I clutched my chest as I stumbled backward. My own fires flared wildly, as though they were no longer mine. Like moths to a flame, they leaned toward the shard on the table. The shard was the spark, and it wanted to devour me, but I was the fire.I hissed, attempting to control the flames once more. "I am not your property!" However, the pull only grew stronger.Rico's harsh, authoritative voice roared through the room. "Xenia! Stay with me!”I looked at him sharply. His lycan body loomed, its black fur shining with blood and perspiration, its claws dripping with darkness. Anger burned in his emerald eyes, but beneath it was fear. I'm afraid. I wanted to get in touch with him. I wanted to t
XENIA'S POVThe room was on fire. Shadows ripped through stone, flames whipped the air, and I could hear the Architect's voices thundering in my head. Every word that was not spoken came to life, piercing my bones and rekindling every doubt I had ever suppressed. Burn to death. Burn to death. I clutched my chest as I stumbled backward. My own fires flared wildly, as though they were no longer mine. Like moths to a flame, they leaned toward the shard on the table. The shard was the spark, and it wanted to devour me, but I was the fire.I hissed, attempting to control the flames once more. "I am not your property!" However, the pull only grew stronger.Rico's harsh, authoritative voice roared through the room. "Xenia! Stay with me!”I looked at him sharply. His lycan body loomed, its black fur shining with blood and perspiration, its claws dripping with darkness. Anger burned in his emerald eyes, but beneath it was fear. I'm afraid. I wanted to get in touch with him. I wanted to t
XENIA’S POVThe darkness lunged. They had substance; they weren't merely illusion and smoke. Eyes burning with the will of the Architect, claws like steel. They screamed as they slammed into the wall of fire I had created, their shapes sizzling in the flames but quickly reforming. With flames blazing into the closest wolf, I threw out my hand. Two more surged in its place, their jaws snapping inches from my throat, but it scattered into cinders. "Xenia!" With a single arc of her blade, Reyna sliced through one, but her face was pale and her eyes were darting from one enemy to another. Another shadow slithered out from the Architect's cloak for each one we knocked down. Never-ending.I forced my flames higher, searing the chamber, until the marble floor cracked under the heat. My veins felt like molten iron. The shard pulsed in my mind, whispering: More. Let me guide you. Give in, and you will never fall.No. My fire was mine.But gods, it was getting harder to hold.RICO’S POVShe
XENIA’S POVThe room darkened. The palace itself shivered for a heartbeat as the walls creaked and the torches sputtered. My eyes were burned by the light from the shard. My mind screamed no, but my hands trembled toward it. I wasn't moving. It was the whispering, the pulling, the shard.“Burn to death. burn to death.” "Xenia!" The storm was broken by Rico's voice. I was only a few inches away from the shard when his hand closed around my wrist. Warm against the Architect's icy whisper, his touch was grounding. Instead of walking, the hooded figure glided closer. "Are you sensing it? Are you hungry? The fire won't wait indefinitely. I'll give you control if you choose me. All you love will be consumed by your flames if you disobey me.”The council members shrank back. Reyna’s sword hissed free, but the Architect did not flinch.My chest burned. Not with fear. With something older. Wilder. I wanted to fight. I wanted to burn. But whose fire would it be?I clenched Rico’s hand tighte
XENIA'S POVRico held on to me for a while. His arms remained around my shoulders, tentative but firm, as if they held a wild flame that could burn him at any time. "Tell me," he muttered. With a tight throat, I shook my head. I still felt phantom heat in my veins from the shard's visions. "You don't want to hear it." "Give me a try." His eyes were beseeching, but his tone was abrasive. And that was even more painful. At last, I pushed the words out. "I saw you. Dead. My hand burned you.”The ensuing quiet was more oppressive than any yell. Rico tensed up and took a slow step back, his face blurry in the torchlight.“You’d never hurt me,” he said at last. But it sounded more like a prayer than a certainty.The crack between us widened. I felt it. So did he.CATTY’S POVI found them like that — too close, yet miles apart. Their bond had been unshakable once. Now, the shard had slipped doubt between them like a blade.“Come,” I said quickly, breaking the tension before it could tea