LOGINLIAMThe scream ripped through the air, and my grip on the table intensified instantly. The metal groaned under my fingers, and I nearly crushed the edge of it as my anger flared white-hot. Sylas had actually dared to come here, to my home, after everything he had done. "Good," I muttered, my voice a low growl that vibrated in my chest, "he had fits if he thinks he's walking away from this." I didn't wait for a response as I headed straight for the doors, my blood boiling with the need to kill. Cade and Cora followed close behind me, their footsteps echoing mine on the stone floor, and I could feel the energy of the bond crackling between us as we burst out into the night.We reached the entrance, and I stopped dead as I saw the devastation. The main fence of the fortress had been completely broken down, the heavy stones and iron bars tossed aside like they were nothing but twigs. A dead guard lay on the floor near the rubble, and I could see a gaping hole in his neck that was still
CORAThe ride back to the fortress was silent, the heavy thud of the Dreadbeasts' paws the only sound against the frozen earth. Just as I had guessed, we admitted defeat and left the place behind, the darkness of the woods swallowing the secrets Ronan had buried there. The silver powder Cade had used was nothing but a dull grey smudge now, and the feeling of being watched hadn't left me, even as the stone walls of the fortress rose up to meet us. We passed through the gates and dismounted, the tension between the brothers so thick it felt like a physical weight on my chest.Upon arriving home, Cade immediately went to the central map room, his fingers tracing the lines of the fortress's perimeter defenses. He analyzed the sentry positions and the reinforced iron grates, his brow furrowed in deep thought. "We should have a decent chance against whatever Ronan is planning," Cade said, though his voice lacked the usual certainty that made him the strategist of the triad. "The outer wall
CORA"Hurry, Cora," Liam commanded, his voice pulling me back from the clearing and the strange feeling of being watched. I shook my head, trying to forget about the phantom gaze that had just settled on my spine, and I ran through the thick underbrush to catch up with him. We moved quickly through the trees until we arrived at Cade's side, and I saw him kneeling on the damp forest floor. He was positioned next to a newly dug hole, the dirt fresh and dark against the surrounding moss, and it was obvious from the jagged edges that he wasn't the one who had created it. Cade looked up at us, his face grim in the pale moonlight, and he gestured for us to look at what he had pulled from the shallow pit.He showed us a bundle of objects he had found buried beneath the roots of a dying pine. There was a clump of hair, long and matted with dark stains, and next to it lay a bloodied dagger. Liam let out a sharp, hissed breath as he leaned in to inspect the weapon, and his eyes widened in rec
CORAThe massive iron doors of the fortress groaned as they swung open, and the cold mountain air hit me with a force that made my lungs sting. Liam and Cade didn't waste a second as they headed toward the stables, returning moments later with two Dreadbeasts that looked more like nightmares than animals. Their thick, matted fur was dark as pitch, and their eyes glowed with a feral yellow light that made me take a step back. I didn't know how to ride one of these things, so I had to tag along with Liam, and he pulled me up onto the saddle behind him without a word. I wrapped my arms around his waist, the leather of his jacket cold under my palms, and I tried to ignore the way the muscles in his back tensed at my touch. Despite the close proximity, I wasn't feeling anything else other than the urgent, clawing urge to find Ronan, especially since the voices in my head had turned even more intense as we left the safety of the stone walls.They were screaming now, a cacophony of warnings
LIAM"No, no, no," I muttered, the words tumbling out in a continuous, frantic string as I moved through the main hallway of the residential wing. My head felt like it was being split open from the inside, and I could feel the curse clawing at the edges of my mind, trying to take over my every thought. My skin rippled with the effort of holding back the shift, and my vision blurred into shades of red and amber every time I blinked. I reached the first heavy door and shoved it open so hard it slammed against the stone wall, but the room was empty. I didn't stop to look twice, and I moved to the next one, my breathing heavy and jagged as I repeated the process, and with every empty chamber, the knot of dread in my stomach tightened.I reached Cade’s room and threw the door open, my claws already starting to prick at the skin of my palms. Cade was sitting on the floor in the center of the room, his legs crossed and his eyes shut tight in deep meditation, and I could see the sweat beads
RONANThe blood flowed slowly through the deep grooves of the stone, and I watched it with an intensity that made my eyes ache. I waited for a reaction, a spark, or even a shift, but as the seconds turned into minutes, nothing happened. The forest remained silent around me, the only sound being my own ragged breathing. "Work, damn you," I whispered, my fingers digging into the dirt as I leaned closer to the runes. I had done everything exactly as Sylas had instructed, following every gruesome detail to the letter, and yet the stone remained cold and unresponsive.I began to think I had made a mistake with the maid, and I remembered Sylas’s warning that only the blood of a tortured soul would be enough to bridge the gap. Maybe she hadn't suffered enough, or maybe I had ended her life too quickly before the fear could fully saturate her veins. The thought made me growl in frustration, and I realized I might have to go back and sacrifice another one to get the results I needed. I hated
CORAThe wolf's massive body flew through the air toward me, and Liam jumped between us, catching Cade's wolf mid-leap and driving it backward into the cave. The impact shook the ground beneath my feet, and the snarls that erupted from both of them were terrifying. Liam turned to me and he yelled
CORAThe merchant continued speaking, explaining how his workers were slaughtered on the roads, and his goods ransacked and burned.His hands moved expressively as he spoke, and there were tears gleaming in his eyes like he was holding them back. But the brothers said nothing.Cade's fingers drumm
LIAMThe parchments lay scattered across my desk, I'd been reading them for hours, my grandfather's elegant script blurring before my eyes as exhaustion crept in. But I couldn't stop, not when every word felt like a key to understanding the curse that had poisoned our bloodline.‘I see now what I
CORA I woke to the sound of the door creaking open, my body was stiff from sleeping on the cold floor. Soft rays of sunlight filtered through the cracks in the boarded window, and I blinked against it, disoriented. My stomach twisted with hunger, a sharp pain that reminded me I hadn't eaten sinc







