A rogue explorer discovers a cursed compass that promises untold riches but awakens an ancient evil with every step toward the prize.
A rogue explorer discovers a cursed compass that promises untold riches but awakens an ancient evil with every step toward the prize.
The sea gnashed at Kael Drayce's boots, cold and bitter as a scorned lover. He clung to the jagged prow of the sunken galleon, its timbers groaning under the weight of centuries. Waves battered the ship's corpse, half-swallowed by a reef no sane sailor would dare chart. Kael wasn't sane, though-not by a long shot. Sanity didn't pay debts, and it sure didn't keep the sharks off his trail, both the finned kind and the ones with knives and ledgers.
"Move, you bastard," he muttered, wrenching a rusted plank free. Spray stung his eyes, but he squinted through it, peering into the gaping maw of the hold below. His torch flickered, spitting embers into the dark. The storm had driven him here-three days off course, rations gone, and a crew muttering mutiny louder than the thunder. But Kael knew wrecks like this held secrets. Secrets meant gold. And gold meant freedom.
He dropped down, boots thudding on sodden deck. The air reeked of rot and salt, thick enough to choke a man. Shadows danced as his torch swept the hold-barrels split like skulls, a skeletal hand clutching a busted spyglass. Nothing worth a damn. He kicked a crate aside, cursing under his breath. "Two days of rowing for this? A pile of-"
The glint stopped him cold. There, wedged beneath a coil of barnacled rope, something gleamed. Not the dull sheen of tarnished coin, but a sharp, bloody red that pulsed like a heartbeat. Kael's pulse quickened to match. He crouched, prying the rope away with his dagger. The object slid free, heavy in his palm-a compass, its casing carved with symbols he couldn't read, its glass cracked but glowing faintly crimson.
"Hell's teeth," he breathed, turning it over. The needle spun wildly, ignoring north, darting like a cornered beast. No rust, no wear-just that eerie light, spilling over his scarred knuckles. He'd seen trinkets before, peddled by liars in dockside taverns, but this? This was no fake. It thrummed against his skin, alive in a way that made his gut twist.
A low rumble shook the wreck. Kael froze. Not thunder-too deep, too close. The compass flared brighter, and the needle snapped to a point, quivering as if it'd found its mark. Then the voice came.
"Find the Vault of Veyra," it rasped, sharp as a blade on stone. "Or the world drowns in shadow."
Kael jolted, dropping the compass. It hit the deck with a clang, but the voice didn't stop-it coiled inside his skull, cold and unyielding. He scrambled back, torch clattering, heart hammering against his ribs. The wreck shuddered again, timbers splintering as water surged through the hull. Whatever this thing was, it wasn't just a compass. It was a summons.
He snatched it up, cursing his luck, and bolted for the breach he'd climbed through. The sea roared louder now, clawing at the ship like it meant to drag it-and him-under. Kael hauled himself onto the reef, the compass clutched tight, its glow cutting through the storm's gloom. Above, lightning split the sky, illuminating his skiff bobbing dangerously close to the rocks. His crew's shouts barely pierced the wind.
"Kael! You alive, you mad dog?" Torv's gravelly bellow rose over the din. The big man clung to the oars, his beard soaked, eyes wide with something between fear and fury.
"Barely!" Kael yelled back, leaping into the skiff. The boat lurched as he landed, and Torv rowed hard, cursing the waves. Kael didn't look at the others-little Jyn with her patched cloak, or grim-faced Marek sharpening his axe. He didn't need to. He felt their stares, heavy as the storm.
"What'd you find?" Jyn asked, voice sharp despite the tremor in it. She leaned closer, peering at his clenched fist.
Kael hesitated. The compass burned against his palm, its whisper echoing in his ears. Vault of Veyra. Shadow. He should toss it overboard, let the sea swallow it. But the weight of his debts pressed harder than the storm-the bounty on his head, the promises he'd broken. This thing, cursed or not, was a chance. Maybe the only one left.
"Trouble," he said finally, tucking it into his coat. "Same as always."
The skiff rocked as a wave crashed over the bow, and Torv barked a laugh that sounded more like a growl. "Trouble's your shadow, Drayce. Hope it pays this time."
Kael didn't answer. The compass pulsed against his chest, its needle steady now, pointing into the black heart of the storm. Wherever this Vault was, whatever Veyra meant, he'd find it. He had to. Because if the world was going to drown, he'd damn well be the one to outswim it.
Isabelle's love for Kolton held flawless for fifteen years-until the day she delivered their children and slipped into a coma. He leaned to her ear and whispered, "Don't wake up. You're worthless to me now." The twins later clutched another woman's hand and chirped, "Mommy," splintering Isabelle's heart. She woke, filed for divorce, and disappeared. Only then did Kolton notice her fingerprints on every habit. They met again: she emerged as the lead medical specialist, radiant and unmoved. But at her engagement gala, she leapt into a tycoon's arms. Jealous, he crushed a glass, blood wetting his palm. He believed as soon as he made a move, Isabelle would return to him. After all, she had loved him deeply.
I just got my billionaire husband to sign our divorce papers. He thinks it's another business document. Our marriage was a business transaction. I was his secretary by day, his invisible wife by night. He got a CEO title and a rebellion against his mother; I got the money to save mine. The only rule? Don't fall in love. I broke it. He didn't. So I'm cashing out. Thirty days from now, I'm gone. But now he's noticing me. Touching me. Claiming me. The same man who flaunts his mistresses is suddenly burning down a nightclub because another man insulted me. He says he'll never let me go. But he has no idea I'm already halfway out the door. How far will a billionaire go to keep a wife he never wanted until she tried to leave?
Serena, heir to Britain's top jewelry company LUXE, suffers sudden amnesia at the peak of her life and is saved from drowning by Ryan. She falls for him instantly, but even after three years of marriage, she cannot replace the place in his heart held by his forever love, Sophie. After a near-fatal kidnapping and Ryan attending a charity gala with Sophie's sister Ivy, Serena hits rock bottom and tells Ryan. "Let's get a divorce." He replies, "You won't survive without me." Breaking free from heartbreak, Serena's career soars as she becomes an internationally renowned designer. Regaining her memories, she returns to LUXE and gives birth to twins. Surrounded by eager admirers, Ryan panics and pleads, "Serena, I was wrong-let me see our children." But can Ryan truly win back Serena's heart? Or has too much been lost? The answers unfold in this gripping tale.
Rumors said that Lucas married an unattractive woman with no background. In the three years they were together, he remained cold and distant to Belinda, who endured in silence. Her love for him forced her to sacrifice her self-worth and her dreams. When Lucas' true love reappeared, Belinda realized that their marriage was a sham from the start, a ploy to save another woman's life. She signed the divorce papers and left. Three years later, Belinda returned as a surgical prodigy and a maestro of the piano. Lost in regret, Lucas chased her in the rain and held her tightly. "You are mine, Belinda."
For eight years, Cecilia Moore was the perfect Luna, loyal, and unmarked. Until the day she found her Alpha mate with a younger, purebred she-wolf in his bed. In a world ruled by bloodlines and mating bonds, Cecilia was always the outsider. But now, she's done playing by wolf rules. She smiles as she hands Xavier the quarterly financials-divorce papers clipped neatly beneath the final page. "You're angry?" he growls. "Angry enough to commit murder," she replies, voice cold as frost. A silent war brews under the roof they once called home. Xavier thinks he still holds the power-but Cecilia has already begun her quiet rebellion. With every cold glance and calculated step, she's preparing to disappear from his world-as the mate he never deserved. And when he finally understands the strength of the heart he broke... It may be far too late to win it back.
"My sister threatens to take my mate. And I let her keep him." Born without a wolf, Seraphina is the disgrace of her pack-until a drunken night leaves her pregnant and married to Kieran, the ruthless Alpha who never wanted her. But their decade-long marriage was no fairytale. For ten years, she endured the humiliation: No Luna title. No mating mark. Just cold sheets and colder stares. When her perfect sister returned, Kieran filed for divorce the same night. And her family was happy to see her marriage broken. Seraphina didn't fight but left silently. However, when danger struck, shocking truths emerged: ☽ That night wasn't an accident ☽ Her "defect" is actually a rare gift ☽ And now every Alpha-including her ex-husband-will fight to claim her Too bad she's done being owned. *** Kieran's growl vibrated through my bones as he pinned me against the wall. The heat of him seared through layers of fabric. "You think leaving is that easy, Seraphina?" His teeth grazed the unmarked skin of my throat. "You. Are. Mine." A hot palm slid up my thigh. "No one else will ever touch you." "You had ten years to claim me, Alpha." I bared my teeth in a smile. "Funny how you only remember I'm yours... when I'm walking away."
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