FLAMEBORN: The Moonbound Queen

rom every side. Heavy

omething clung to her-like vines in a river, draggin

should'v

mpled to the forest floor. She remembered the look on Kael's face-rage, grief, denial. She remembered th

en...

nt whispered to her

oos

female. It simply was. Al

. or b

-

ke scr

exploded from her chest, lighting the ru

r side, catching her bef

ng," he choked

them, blood on hi

growled. "That bolt

rian said. "Even Thornbloods

ened he

ng was d

. A second moon hung faintly in the sky above the real one, pale and flickering like a mirage. She

er like she was somet

did you do?" K

t know. I didn't do anythin

"Something more tha

ed to he

ooked

moons surrounded by Thornblood runes. A living tat

u're not just on

somethin

-

d fast af

ient runes. Kael secured the perimeter while Jax hauled in supplies. Aria sle

ms were far

t the center of power and ruin. She kissed her mates beneath blood moo

me, she die

-

e again, Kae

eside her in the silence. She watched the firelight flicker over his sh

me," she

't look

he first Thornblood. Y

sed hi

e said. "But I

nd. Just once. Tha

t instinct and desire-memories. Echoes of kisses and bat

ered. "Everything we've ever

against hers. "Then you know wh

-

ian had built an altar from memory, using pieces of old Thornblo

permanently?" Kael

ect her. If they try to break the bond ag

price?" J

ned. "Magic always

e we giv

said, before Dor

ooked

e bound. What I become... what I do... y

hesitate. "T

u. Storm and flame, b

ered his hand. "L

-

g like the mate bond

ed names no longer spoken. Dorian carved runes into their skin-hers over he

ey kiss

by

te, like a man already mo

hungry, tasting of

, sealing the ritual with a whis

them. The cave shook.

rkness, s

it

th

a

creamed fro

only by her, and her body convulsed.

e didn

ro

ver. Runes etche

ws behind her, a

yed stran

, he wasn

ed. Silent. Their marks twisted

en she

wasn't a

after the