KIARA Before I could attack him, a crippling wave of magic was channeled in my direction, bringing me to my knees. While I struggled with this, he swung a clawed hand in my direction. The moment I thought I'd escaped the strike of his hand, a black mass of energy was thrown towards me, catching me off guard. I shut my eyes, awaiting what I perceived to be a deadly impact. It never came. When I opened my eyes, Cassy was standing in front of me, her eyes wide. She coughed up blood, and I lowered my gaze to see her torso melting away as tendrils of dark magic ate into her flesh. She collapsed into my arms, and I gasped, my eyes clouding up with tears. Bringing a shaky hand to her wound, I hissed as the residues of magic burned the palm of my hand."It's okay. It's.... really okay..." She gasped. "No...not now. Cassy, please..." I sobbed as her eyes lost their shine. Closing my eyes, I tried to concentrate on mending her collapsing body. But I couldn't. "You killed her. Just l

KIARA For the rest of the night, I was unable to sleep. Afraid that I would have another nightmare, a replay of Cassy's death, I stayed awake. I'd tried to convince Denzel to get some sleep. But, he'd refused to let me stay awake alone. I knew more than anyone else how worried he was. I wished I didn't have to make him worry that much. I'd tried to fool myself into believing that everything was fun. It was clear now, I was wrong. To alleviate my mate's concerns, I had breakfast with him and took my time settling down to have a long soak in a hot bath. When I was done, I slipped on my black robe, tying the sash around my waist absentmindedly. While I headed back to bed, I stumbled and almost fell. "There you go again. You're such a klutz."A shiver ran down my spine at the sound of Cassy's cheery voice. Slowly, I turned around and found her leaning against the wall with her arms folded across her chest. She had an amused smile on her face, her blue eyes shimmering. "What?" S

DENZEL "Your majesty!" At the sound of a guard's voice, I made my way out of the bedroom with Kiara by my side. The guard was trembling by the door. He appeared to be terrified."What is the matter?" I asked, and he lowered his head, his gaze fixed on the ground."Your majesty, rumours of a plague have spread throughout the land. I believe it has reached the northern lands as well," he said."Rumours? Is it merely a made-up story? If it's just a rumour, it can't be true, right?" Kiara asked."Unfortunately, the plague is real. It started spreading yesterday. But, the affected areas have increased. We are not sure about the true nature of the plague. But it is capable of bringing insanity to the people," the guard said. Every muscle in my body tensed up. Were the children of darkness trying to exert their revenge on us? When Kiara's worried gaze met mine, I knew she was thinking of the same thing. "What is your name?" I asked the guard, and he bowed in respect."My name is No

KIARA Denzel carefully lifted our daughter into his arms, his eyes filled with worry for her. He held her to himself, and suddenly, she stopped crying and writhing. My eyes widened when I noticed that she had fallen asleep. "What was that? What did you do?" I whispered, and he cracked a smile."I did the only thing I could. Comfort her," he responded."How? She has been crying for a while," I said, and he nodded."She won't be in pain for a while."I narrowed his eyes at him. Something felt suspicious. He refused to look at me. It felt as though he was avoiding my gaze. He had to be lying about something."Denzel...""Right. I heard from Ryssa," he blurted out, and my heart sank. He'd definitely just switched topics. "What did she say?" I asked, staring intently at him."Lucas got help from a witch capable of ancient blood magic," he stated. "How is that even possible? It's called ancient blood magic for a reason. That kind of magic is deadly and difficult to control. It has

DENZEL "Trust me, you don't want to say no to me. The plague is only a tiny fraction of the chaos I can bring to your people," she droned, her eyes turning pitch black.In that moment, pain speared through my chest, my lungs straining for. Choking and gasping for air, I doubled over. I felt my eyes begin to bleed, the metallic smell of blood filling the air. "Stop it. Stop whatever you're doing," I hissed through gritted teeth."You didn't realize that we're now in your study, did you?" She said and I froze. That's right; we'd been standing along the hallway a few seconds ago. Who on earth was this strange woman?While I thought about this, the pressure in my chest worsened, and my knees gave out. Crashing to the ground, I clutched at my chest. It was humiliating and frustrating. "How do you feel now? Does all of this finally make you realize how weak and helpless you are?" I heard her say. My airway constricted, and black dots clouded my vision as dizziness slammed into me,