faced
oods and been hunted by shad
thing-had ever
derstorm waiting to break. Still. Silent
trying to escape. Her palms were damp. Her le
again since the
ng to tell me
n eyes locking onto hers with a he
nce wasn
s dem
her mouth. T
new. To ask the hundred ques
u
th
s. Not even a bre
Panic bloomed across her
l no
trembled at her sides. Her breath
can't
ck. Her gaze darted back to Kaelen's, hopin
ws furrowing, jaw tensing-not with
izat
gnit
a wounded creature that might bolt. His voice,
can't
estion.
ly, her breath s
w what was hap
oice had
kin still throbbed li
knew o
t started the moment s
wo
f Lycans. K
fa
ence st
lo
he
eady to break. The torches on the walls flicker
n eyes darkened, sharp with fr
roat, low and guttural, like th
th
gh
om the
m h
her collarbone as heat-searing
ma
lsed
ic
ign
e pain wasn't sharp like before-it was deeper. Like something
with intricate lines that spread out like veins of starlight. T
ir sh
erature
through the chamber-tho
muttered a word she didn't understand-an ancient tongue th
Reve
gnit
didn'
k-locked on it like it was the
, something cracke
ra
po
g old. Somet
o had just risen from the grave-a
spered, but the word b
immer of light, clutching her
know what
he
t was-it chang
before she
in front of her, taller tha
ncy. His hand wrapped around her upper arm, groundi
rom a
rom s
one, still pulsing with silver light. As his skin touched he
sing
elen..
All the comman
o
d built with blood and silence. His jaw tightened, but his b
is voice low-frayed, like a man standing on
him, confusion sw
o speak. No
d, slow and broken, her l
on't
's gaze di
ng more tha
seein
atever lingered in the edges of her
ting go of something holy or cursed. He steppe
is forbidden,
lower. A whisper m
xtin
st tighten
ut she had no tim
posted along the edges of the chambe
eave
riors h
his voice-but he
"N
ike a command
s downcast, the heavy doors clo
was jus
th the forg
who remembe
ut with a finality t
llowed was colder t
with uneven breath. His eyes-no longer just golden, but
something he'd
dn't
ight
crescent moon on her collarbone slowly fading
er voice fragile but finally
cut through t
is lips parted like he m
inst
nd for the first tim
of
she repr
red, more to himself than t
it
was
iv
rk
ssed, voice shaking.
e-slowly, steadily-un
o cruelty i
y f
fi
another time
ce low and raw, "you were
breath
rvive
didn't
oment-he didn't s
the world had
e they'd buried u
walked into his
-
to