ttered into f

field of screaming wind and crackling magic. Beside her, Silas let out a guttural snarl, the sound barely human as his body shifted mid-motion. Fur tore throug

ver the chaos, her voice

d by the flames, framed by the blood moon overhead. His grin

r blood. Magic for magic. Your mother tried to bind what sh

agic rising to her fingertips like a coiled serpent. A bolt of violet energy leapt forward, striking th

lled again. "Th

fighting with the ferocity of a cornered god. Three against one now, a

r pulsed with an infernal glow, growing hotter in her grip. It felt like it had a will

g that w

only a second. T

ation. Not one taught by the coven, but one remembered deep

one, by the bloodline I

lared to lif

t into the sc

and thorned, snapping through the soil like claws. Two of the rogues screamed as they were ensnared, the vin

aining wolves into the stone archway with such f

-Kellen di

epping forward. His eyes glowed blood-red now-unnatural

ill embedded in the altar's rem

cursed line," he said, voice rough like gravel dragged th

oned a firstborn. Only the Alpha who'd been cursed-and the madness

t just v

s anc

low but steady now. "We can

. She could feel the battle still boiling beneath h

eached

. Run, little wolf. I'll find you.

r. She gripped the

y r

s of darkness behind them-illusions of false paths and shimmering mirages to slow their pursuers. Branches

in hard pants. Every muscle in him remained taut, coiled

en from spring melt. Rowan splashed through, magic pulsing beneath her s

in the distance, a faint hum of magic br

rmation violent and fast. He collapsed against a t

olding without grace. Her hands t

attack," she said, voice h

clenched. "And a d

ck with dread. The air itse

lap, still warm. But the runes etched into i

w glow

as the first seal," she w

skin was pale beneath the grime. "

Because we'll find them. And we'

m..." Silas said carefully, "then break

eyes didn't waver. "Th

ry inch of her trembling-

rite th

at his breath ghosted across her cheek.

n't mov

said I

d them, to hold its breath. There was a pull, magnet

th

split t

a ro

f the

es, hair tangled and cheeks streaked with soot.

," she panted. "Now. T

. "What do yo

wallowed. "Someone destroyed i

eath, eyes blazing. "The

n felt the weight of it all-the ancient dagger in her grip, the

d ever be th

the dark... Kel