Novel & Cerita Blood On The Tide

"Blood." "Fresh." Kael opened his eyes. "Hers?" "No." "Human." "Male." Another pause. "The scent matches Marcus Holt's file." *Marcus.* He turned. The wind hit his jacket. Pulled at him. And for a moment he allowed himself to feel the full shape of what was coming. The moon. The marking. The woman who had arrived in his town carrying a bloodline that would draw every old enemy he had straight to her door. She had come here looking for her brother.

As I fell into danger, Jake put up a fight, his limbs ripping. Despite being drenched in blood, he bolted toward me and pounded my attacker on the head. Blood spilled all over the concrete floor, either coming from Jake or the rogue. Anna let out a shriek. It was total mayhem. “Joey!” Anna shouted. Through the madness, a massive black wolf came charging from a distance with incredible speed. I knew that it was Joey, my aloof mate. It never crossed my mind that Joey had shared a mind link with Anna.

That’s how we talk here. “I want it stopped.” His eyes finally flicked to me—cold, pale blue, same color as mine but without any warmth left in them. “Quietly. No bodies in the river this time. We’re trying to keep the peace with the Italians until the wedding talks are finalized.” There it was. The wedding.

Even now, weeks on, it clings to the back of my throat. The royal guard trails at a distance, per protocol. I sense them more than see them—a collection of shadows in formal livery, keeping their silence as if afraid the ruins might overhear. My banner sags in the breeze. The golden sun of Aradal hangs limp, the threads scorched at the edges. I wonder if it will ever look clean again, or if the soot has become part of its design.

The wind howled violently, scratching at my throat until I felt an itch that seemed to make me want to cough. "Enough talking. Choose, or I'll let them both go." At Amber's signal, the men next to us hoisted both me and Tara up. The salty sea breeze hit me in the face, and the sharp smell of ocean water churned my stomach. However, nothing compared to the screaming in my ears. Before I could even draw a breath, Ethan had already made his choice. At that moment, everything went silent. Amber instinctively turned to look at me. My vision flickered and spots of black clouded my sight, but I did not know why.

“Blood Arts: Absolution!” The blood drops flew into the windstorm and caused a great change. The colourless storm was now a blood red sea; and the tornado had become a tsunami. A loud roar was heard from within the tsunami as the blood wave swept towards Asherah, knocking aside every wind blade in its path! *ROAR*

There were a few small fish swimming around the reeds springing up from the ground beneath the shallow water. A set of ripples drew his attention. Something was dripping into the water steadily, causing ripples to diverge. The Prince realised the dripping liquid was not colourless like the water but a dark red. With each added drop, the thick red substance slowly turned the water pink. Was this the blood they had smelled? With one sniff, he confirmed it. Yes, it was one and the same. Hayden looked up to see the source of the blood. Hayden’s sharp intake of breath alerted Titan. The Beta rushed over to him. Titan looked at Hayden’s stiff posture. The Prince was clenching his hands into fists

She nodded her head. I made a small slash at my wrists and watched my blood begin to pool around the wound. Arisa reached for my wrist gingerly. She slowly brought it to her lips and began drinking. A shudder passed through me as she drank my blood. A second later she pulled away. Her eyes had tints of red in them, proof of the bonding process.

My hands trailed up to his neck and twisted lightly in his hair as I relished the feeling of his warm mouth. "You smell good," he said. "What is that? Tango Tangerine?" He brushed his nose along my collarbone. That pushed me over the edge and I sank my fangs into the vein on his neck. His body tensed a moment when my teeth pricked his skin, but he quickly relaxed. Wrapped me in his arms and pulled me against him. Troy's blood was amazing. Filled with copper and strength, and magic, and fire, and brimstone, and love, and sweetness, and more love. Wow! The love I tasted in his blood was so strong it made my heart ache with happiness.

The Tide-Essence was settled in my marrow, but the cost was absolute. I looked at my hands. They were no longer blue. They were a matte, light-drinking black. The Sanguine Empress was gone. The Obsidian Sovereign had been born. When Kaelen pulled me from the water, the world was still. The lightning had stopped. The ghosts were gone. The "unbound" were standing on the cliffs, their eyes now a deep, steady sapphire—the color of the Tide. I lay on the black sand, my body cold as the deep. Kaelen knelt over me, his hands shaking as he touched my black-scaled face.