جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 30

LESSIE I came to with a scream already lodged in my throat, but it died before it could find an exit. The world opened in a burst of white pain that hammered behind my eyes and pulsed through my skull like a bell. Every breath was unbearable. My mouth tasted copper and old rain. For a dizzy second I couldn’t remember my own name.Then the light focused and the room sharpened into awful, precise detail.I was lying on a cold stone. My wrists and ankles were bound with bands that hummed faintly and glowed with a pale, sickly blue. Runes crawled up the bands like living ink. The chamber around me was carved so deep into the earth it felt like the inside of some giant bone. Candles burned in iron sconces, and the wax smelled like rosemary and ash. The walls were covered in glyphs that pulsed softly as if they were breathing.My arm.I tried to move and the shock of pain made me gasp. Machines — ancient-looking, brass and glass and ropes of silver tubing leaned over me, and tiny nee

PROFESSOR DANTE “No!!” Kieran’s roar tore through the chamber, shaking the stone walls as he hurled himself toward Celeste.But she barely flicked her wrist. A wave of raw magic shot from her palm, and he was blasted backwards like a rag doll, slamming against the far wall with a bone-crunching thud.The chamber erupted into chaos.I lunged. My body moved before thought, before pain, before reason. My claws unsheathed, my wolf snarling, I intercepted her strike, forcing the knife away from Lessie’s chest. The blade pierced my skin too deep.Agony seared through me as steel tore across my flesh. My blood spilled over the floor, staining the runes beneath us.“Dante!” Lessie’s voice cracked, and it gutted me worse than the blade.But I forced my jaw tight, ignoring the burn. I couldn’t afford to falter and let her know I was in pains.Behind me, Kieran dragged himself to his feet, shaking his head as if clearing the daze. His eyes burned like wildfire when they locked on Ethan.“You,”

LESSIE The altar burned beneath my back, stone cold and yet alive with magic that bit into my skin like fire. My wrists strained against the glowing chains, but every time I pulled, the runes tightened, searing me deeper. I screamed as the witch’s spell crawled through my veins, scorching from the inside out. Through the haze of pain, I caught sight of them. Dante. Kieran.They fought like men possessed, blades flashing, claws raking, fangs bared. MyMy heart split at the sight, the two men I loved in different ways, bleeding for me, dying for me. Their healing was slow, their bodies already scarred, yet neither yielded.“Stop!” I screamed, thrashing against my bonds. “Stop hurting them!”Celeste’s laugh cut through my cries. She loomed over me, dagger glinting in her hand. Her eyes shimmered with madness, her lips curved in that cruel smile.“Why?” I shouted at her, choking on tears. “Why are you so wicked? Why do you watch him bleed when you claim to love him? Does his life mea

PROFESSOR DANTE I had barely closed the door behind me at the school board meeting room when the tension hit me like a physical weight. Every member of the board was staring at me with the kind of intensity reserved for predators circling their prey. I knew exactly why I was here, and I hated it. I hated every second of it.The vice chancellor leaned forward, his long fingers steepled. His voice was calm, but the underlying disgust was unmistakable. “Professor Dante, your relationship with Lessie has come under scrutiny. We need clarification. What exactly is the nature of your relationship with her?”I squared my shoulders, refusing to let my jaw tighten in anger. I looked each one of them in the eye. “Lessie is my student. Nothing more, nothing less. I have no inappropriate relationship with her.”A murmur ran through the room, subtle but sharp. One of the council members, a thin, hawk-faced woman, leaned forward with narrowed eyes. “With all due respect, Professor, it strains

LESSIEI had learned my lesson the hard way. I wasn’t about to go barreling through the crowded streets of San Antonio again—not after that miserable incident at the carriage dealer’s shop. For now, I’d stick to the quieter stretches of road beyond the city limits. So I gripped the wheel of the Duryea with careful hands and steered us steadily along the open lanes, leaving behind the last neat houses and tidy fences of town.Within an hour, the countryside had swallowed us whole. Heat pressed down like a hammer on the back of my neck. The sun glared with merciless brilliance, baking the earth until it seemed to shimmer.“The train was cooler,” Ethan murmured beside me.I bit back the sharp retort that nearly leapt to my lips. Of course the train had been cooler—everyone knew that. But I would not let him see my discomfort. Instead, I shifted in the seat, wincing at how every rut and pothole jolted through my back, rattled my teeth, and left my backside aching. I kept my chin hig