All Chapters of Blood of the Black Moon: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Kaelira didn’t remember deciding to run—only the thunder of her pulse and the burn of pine needles slicing her feet as she tore through the forest. One heartbeat ago, King Zevran’s shadow-creatures had lunged from the trees; now she was sprinting toward the sound of screaming.The scent of silver hit first: sharp, electric, wrong.Taren.He knelt in the clearing, shoulders jerking as if his own veins were trying to crawl away from him. Silver wire coiled tight around his forearm, glowing with small runes that pulsed like living eyes.“Don’t—” he gasped when he saw her. “They said not to—”Kaelira dropped beside him, already reaching. “Who did this?”“Hunters,” he stammered. “S-said it would stop the— stop the turning—”His words broke into a strangled cry. The wire’s symbols flared white-hot, racing up his arm. Smoke rose where metal met skin.The smell was unbearable—burning flesh mixed with something older, darker, like scorched magic.“Breathe,” she said, though her own voice tremb

The air inside the Dominion vaults felt alive.Every breath Kaelira took tasted faintly metallic, like the walls were breathing with her.The floor pulsed beneath her boots, veins of light tracing through stone, converging around the runic circle that bore her name.Zevran’s voice echoed low beside her. “Step back.”“Why?” she asked, staring at the way her name shimmered. “I want to know what it means.”“It could be a summoning seal.”“Then let’s summon some answers.”Before he could stop her, Kaelira crouched, pressing her palm flat against the rune that glowed brightest — the K.The world tilted.Air rushed in reverse.Zevran’s shout blurred into nothing.And then—Silence.⸻She was standing in the same chamber, but it wasn’t broken or cold.Candles floated mid-air, casting gold reflections over polished stone.The air smelled of jasmine and ozone.A woman stood at the center of the circle — tall, graceful, and familiar enough to stop Kaelira’s heart.“Mother?” The word came out a

The night after the bond, Kaelira couldn’t sleep.Every time she closed her eyes, she saw it—the surge of light, Zevran’s face inches from hers, the whisper of his pulse thrumming through her veins like it belonged there.It should’ve terrified her. Instead, it felt too alive.The bond had changed something fundamental. She could sense him even when he wasn’t near. His power, his heartbeat, his calm—like a tide brushing the edges of her mind. If she focused, she could almost hear his thoughts, like echoes under ice.She hated it.She hated how part of her didn’t want to block him out.When dawn finally came, she found him outside, standing shirtless in the courtyard as mist rose from the ruined temple around them. His sword cut through the air in perfect arcs, silver light trailing behind every swing.For a king, he fought like a man who had nothing left to prove—no wasted motion, no noise, just lethal grace.He didn’t look at her when he spoke.“I can feel you watching.”Kaelira cros

Night came slow and heavy, like ink bleeding through parchment.They made camp deep in the forest, far from the Dominion’s hunting wards. The only sounds were the fire’s shallow crackle and the whisper of the wind through skeletal trees.Taren slept curled beneath Zevran’s cloak, his breathing shallow but no longer ragged. The black veins along his throat had faded slightly, but Kaelira still didn’t trust it. Dominion magic had a way of hiding until you blinked.She sat across from the fire, staring into the embers until her eyes blurred. The mark on her wrist flickered faintly in rhythm with the flames—like her power couldn’t decide whether to rest or wake.Zevran crouched nearby, sharpening his blade with slow, deliberate strokes. Sparks leapt, reflecting in his eyes. He didn’t speak, and Kaelira wasn’t sure whether that made her more or less aware of him.Finally, she broke the silence. “You said Taren’s your brother’s son.”Zevran didn’t look up. “I did.”“And your brother—?”“Dea

Dawn came late to Vyrden Hollow.The smoke still hung over the valley like a second sky, dimming the sun to a dull orange smear. Kaelira stood among the ruins, soot streaking her hands, the mark on her wrist faintly gold again. She felt hollow, scraped clean.The wolves they’d buried hours ago slept under fresh earth. Nothing else did.Behind her, Zevran’s voice carried quietly. “We need to leave before the Dominion sends a recovery team.”Kaelira didn’t turn. “You mean before they come to collect what’s left of me.”His silence answered for him.She faced him then, eyes rimmed red but steady. “If Draven was telling the truth—if the bond is a cage—then you’re bleeding every time I breathe.”Zevran’s expression didn’t change, but she felt the flicker of discomfort through the tether. “Then breathe slower.”“That’s not funny.”“It wasn’t meant to be.”She exhaled hard, trying to steady herself. “So how do we break it?”His gaze moved to the blackened ritual stone at the valley’s center.