PROLOGUE

Anastasia screamed as an uncontrollable surge of power tore out of her body.

She clawed both hands into her hair, collapsing onto her knees as the force erupted outwards with terrifying violence.

The ground beneath her cracked with a deafening CRACK!

Another wave of energy exploded from her.

Dust and debris were hurled into the air as the entire field seemed to shudder beneath her.

The officials tried to approach… They couldn't.

Every time someone took a step closer, another wave of energy exploded from Anastasia, forcing them backwards.

"Anastasia!"

Someone shouted her name.

She couldn't hear them.

Her breathing grew ragged.

Her entire body trembled violently as she desperately clutched her head.

Then… Her eyes changed.

The familiar blue slowly faded from her irises… Until there was nothing left. Nothing but absolute darkness.

Pitch black.

The people watching froze.

No one dared to move.

"What… is happening to her?"

No one answered.

Anastasia suddenly gasped.

A sharp, unbearable pain tore through her skull.

She grabbed the sides of her head even tighter. It felt as though something inside her mind was splitting apart.

Then…

She saw darkness. Not the darkness surrounding her… Something older, something buried.

Trees… Endless trees.

Men and women running through the wilderness in torn, bloodied clothes.

Someone screaming.

A woman's hand gripping hers… Warm, familiar.

Then…

A man's voice… Her father's voice.

Anastasia's breath hitched.

The memory vanished.

Another one replaced it.

A figure stood beneath the trees.

Tall… Monstrous, two enormous horns rose from his head.

And behind him…

Two massive black wings stretched into the darkness.

Anastasia stared.

Her entire body went cold.

She knew him! She had seen him before. Not once… Not twice… But for years.

He had appeared in her dreams.

Always beneath the trees… Always watching… Always just beyond her reach.

And every time she tried to see his face…

Pain!

A blinding migraine…

Dizziness…

Sometimes, blood would suddenly pour from her nose.

Then the memory would disappear.

But this time… It didn't.

Anastasia watched as the figure slowly turned.

Her heart hammered against her chest.

No!

She didn't want to see. And yet… She needed to know.

For years, something had always stopped her before she could see his face.

Not now!

She forced herself to look.

The figure turned further.

And then… She saw him. His face… Those eyes. That familiar expression.

Her breath hitched in her throat.

She knew that face.

She had seen it countless times.

A face she had smiled at… A face she had run towards. Arms she had once thrown herself into without fear.

A voice she had once called with complete trust.

Her lips trembled.

"...Father?"

The memory shattered.

Anastasia screamed.

The darkness in her eyes deepened.

Her power exploded outwards.

And then…

Everything went black.

...

Years ago…

Kaden was only five years old when he first learned the word hate.

He didn't understand it then.

He didn't know what it meant.

He certainly didn't know who it would one day belong to.

All he knew was that something had been taken from him.

And somehow…

That something had led back to one man.

Lucien.

Years later, Kaden would finally understand why that name had always carried such bitterness.

Why hearing it could turn his blood cold.

Why he had spent so long believing that everything he had lost could be traced back to the same person.

And perhaps that was why, years later, when Kaden finally stood before Anastasia again…

There was no warmth left in his eyes, no hesitation, no softness.

The boy she remembered was gone.

In his place stood the Kaden everyone else knew… Cold, detached, nonchalant, untouchable.

Anastasia stared at him, desperately searching his face.

She moved her eyes over every familiar feature, looking for something… anything that belonged to the boy she had once known.

“Kaden…”

His name barely left her lips.

Kaden looked at her… Only for a moment.

Then his expression hardened.

“You should stop.”

Anastasia's brows drew together.

“Stop what?”

“This.”

His voice was flat, almost bored.

“Whatever it is you're still expecting from me.”

Her heart tightened.

A cold feeling slowly spread through her chest.

“What are you talking about?”

Kaden stepped closer.

“You want the truth?”

Anastasia swallowed.

Her heart was pounding so hard she could feel it in her chest.

“Yes.”

His eyes remained fixed on hers.

“Fine.”

A brief silence.

Then…

“I never loved you.”

Anastasia's breath hitched.

She stared at him.

For a moment, she didn't understand what she had just heard.

Her lips parted slightly, but no words came.

Kaden didn't look away.

“I was using you.”

Her fingers slowly curled at her sides.

“What…?”

The word came out barely above a whisper.

Kaden's expression remained cold.

“I needed a way to get close to your father.”

Anastasia's eyes searched his face.

There had to be something there… Some sign that he didn't mean it. But there was nothing… Only that same cold, detached look.

A faint, humorless smile touched his lips.

“And you made it too easy.”

Anastasia's chest tightened.

Kaden continued.

“All I had to do was kiss you.”

She stared at him.

Her mind went completely still.

The memories she had tried so hard to hold onto suddenly felt different.

She shook her head slowly.

“No…”

“You trusted me blindly.”

He continued as though he hadn't heard her.

“You welcomed me when everyone else kept their distance. You brought me into your world. You told me things you shouldn't have.”

His jaw tightened slightly.

“And I let you believe I cared.”

Anastasia's head shook again.

“No.”

“I knew exactly what I was doing.”

Her breathing grew uneven.

“You're lying.”

Kaden's expression remained cold.

But Anastasia couldn't accept it.

She shook her head again, more desperately this time, as if refusing his words could somehow make them untrue.

“No. You can't say that.”

Her voice trembled.

“Because I remember…”

She swallowed, struggling to get the words out.

“How you held me. How passionately you kissed me.”

Kaden said nothing.

Anastasia stared at him, searching his face for the smallest crack in his expression.

Her lips quivered.

“You can't tell me all of that was an act.”

For the first time, something flickered in Kaden's eyes.

Anastasia caught it… Her breath hitched.

She stepped closer.

A tense silence settled between them.

“Were you really pretending?”

Kaden's jaw tightened.

For a brief moment, his eyes held hers.

Then his expression hardened again.

“Yes.”

The single word seemed to knock the air from her lungs.

Anastasia stared at him. She didn't blink or move.

Her lips parted, but nothing came out.

Then she slowly shook her head.

“No…”

The word came out broken.

She swallowed hard, trying to steady herself… But she couldn't.

The tears she had been fighting began to gather in her eyes, blurring his face in front of her.

Kaden's voice lowered.

“I gave you exactly what you needed to trust me.”

Something inside Anastasia snapped.

Her eyes turned red as the tears finally spilled over.

“You…”

Her voice trembled with hurt and disbelief.

She stared at him through the tears, her chest heaving unevenly.

“You really did all of that… just to get to my father?”

Then…

SLAP!

Her palm struck his cheek.

Kaden's head turned sharply from the force.

Before he could react, Anastasia stepped forward and slammed both hands against his chest… Once, twice… so hard.

“You held me!”

Her voice broke.

“You kissed me!”

Tears streamed down her face now, but she didn't stop.

“You looked at me like I was the only person in the world!”

Her hands struck his chest again.

“And you're telling me all of that was a lie?”

Kaden remained still.

Anastasia's breathing came in broken gasps.

She stared up at him through tear-filled, reddened eyes.

“I hate you!”

The words shook as they left her. But this time, she didn't take them back.

“I hate you, Kaden!”