CHAPTER 92A figure emerged from the swirling shadow of the ruin’s heart—tall, slow, deliberate.Lucian took one step forward, brows furrowed. “No,” he whispered. “No, that’s—”He stopped breathing.Elias’s eyes widened. “Wait… that’s—”“Luca?” Kai’s voice cracked like glass. “Lucian, is that—?”“No,” Lucian growled, his voice warping with fury. “That’s not him.”The figure stepped into the dying light, and the last strands of glamour melted away. It was Luca’s face—every inch of it. Same smirk. Same eyes. Except… wrong. Deep, too-deep black bled into his sclera. His pupils shimmered with an ancient malice. His skin, once warm with life, now looked like marble left too long in the cold.“Surprise,” the figure purred, his smile slithering. “Miss me, brother?”Lucian’s body jerked forward, but Kai held him back. “Don’t. Not yet.”“You’re not him,” Elias said, stepping back, voice low with shock. “You’re… Erethar.”“Bingo.” He clapped mockingly. “Took you long enough. I expected more fro
CHAPTER 91Elias gasped awake, back arching off the ground, eyes wide with a silvery glow. Lucian was kneeling beside him in an instant, gripping his shoulders.“Elias? Elias!”“I’m—” Elias coughed, voice raw. “I’m okay. I think. I saw him. I felt him. He’s—he’s still alive, but barely.”Kai dropped beside them, eyes frantic. “Where? Where is he? Did you see where they took him?”Elias blinked rapidly. His fingers twitched. “Not exactly. But I… I saw something else. A sigil. Carved into the shadows themselves. It’s tied to Erethar’s prison.”Lucian’s brows furrowed. “You mean his original prison? The one the ancients sealed him in?”Elias nodded weakly and pushed himself upright. “It’s not in any realm we know. It’s hidden—forgotten. A cursed plane, one step between reality and void.”“You’re saying Dorian’s in a pocket realm tied to that place?” Kai asked, voice rising. “We’re wasting time—we need to go! Now!”“We can’t just barge in blind,” Lucian snapped, standing. “This isn’t just
CHAPTER 90The darkness pressed in like a living thing—thick, suffocating, endless.Dorian jerked awake with a strangled gasp, his wrists burning where the bindings held him. Chains of shadow slithered up his arms like snakes, embedding into his skin. His heartbeat thundered, wild and panicked. There was no light. No air. Just—A voice.Low. Familiar. Wrong.“You’re awake. Good.”Dorian’s breath caught. “You.”The shadows shifted around him like smoke, coalescing into a vague silhouette. A mask gleamed faintly in the dark, and behind it, the voice of Erethar echoed, slick and ancient.“I thought it’d be more... entertaining this way,” Erethar purred. “You, all alone. Again.”“I’m not alone,” Dorian hissed. “They’ll come for me.”“Will they?” Erethar stepped closer. “Your little mate, perhaps. The broken healer. But why would they rush? They’ve all left you before.”“No—”“You were always the afterthought, weren’t you?” The darkness behind Erethar rippled. “The monster child. Half this
CHAPTER 89“I say we go now,” Kai said firmly, stepping closer to the still-glowing rift.Lucian caught his arm. “No. We need supplies, proper enchantments—”“We don’t have time, Lucian!” Kai snapped. “You saw the echo. That was a warning.”“And if we rush in blind and all die, what use will that be to Dorian?” Lucian countered, voice rising. “You’re being emotional.”“Oh, I’m sorry,” Kai shot back. “Am I supposed to be calm after my boyfriend was kidnapped by a possessed lunatic?”Kairis sighed. “Here we go.”Elias stood silently between them, chest tight. Something was wrong. Something was pulling—“I’m not waiting around for you to brew a magical backpack,” Kai growled. “Every second we waste, he could be—”Suddenly, Elias gasped.His hands flew to his chest. A sharp, burning pain lanced through him like molten fire. His knees buckled.“Elias?” Lucian moved to catch him, but Elias stumbled back, eyes wide, breath caught in his throat.“Dorian—” he whispered, voice strangled.Then h
CHAPTER 88“I can’t just sit here!” Kai snapped, his boots striking the polished floor as he paced for the sixth time in under a minute.Lucian sat cross-legged at the center of the hallway, eyes shut tight, fingers trembling as they hovered over the map of the region laid out before him. “Then don’t sit. But shut the hell up. I’m trying to concentrate.”“He’s not dead,” Elias said quietly, arms wrapped around himself as he stared out the window. “I’d feel it. He’s still alive.”“And in pain,” Kai said, voice cracking. “You saw him fall. He’s in pain and we don’t know where—”“I’m working on it!” Lucian snapped, eyes flaring open with a bright golden light. “He’s warded. Wherever they took him, it’s blocked by something ancient.”“That’s not just any magic,” Kairis murmured from the garden door.Everyone turned.She had her boots on, her coat half-buttoned, her gloves in one hand and a dagger in the other.Kai frowned. “What are you talking about?”Kairis didn’t answer immediately. Sh
CHAPTER 87Pain dragged him back to consciousness.The cold floor beneath him bit into his skin, his head lolled forward. Everything ached—his limbs, his neck, the place in his shoulder where they'd jabbed him with something burning.But what hit him hardest wasn’t the pain.It was the voice.“Well, well. Sleeping beauty awakens.”Dorian’s breath caught.That voice… no. It couldn’t be—His head snapped up, and his heart froze.Tristan.Dressed in black, eyes gleaming with something dark and twisted, he stood a few feet away with a cruel smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.“You,” Dorian rasped. “You… bastard.”Tristan tilted his head mockingly. “That’s no way to greet an old friend. Or did you forget how close we used to be?”“You tried to kill Elias,” Dorian growled. “You’re not my friend. You’re nothing but a traitor.”Tristan grinned. “Still so loyal. How sweet. But you really should learn to choose better people to worship.”He strolled closer, hands clasped behind his back