rned through him. Blood soaked the floor, and the truth-Isabella's truth-coiled like a serpent around his spine. He doubled over, every breath choked by betrayal, by the slaughter of h

me

Older. A sound born from his bloodline, from

gic too foul to name. His back arched, mouth open in a silent scream as pain surged into power, fusing him with the thing beneath his skin. His hands fle

sword raised but trembling. "Fight it! I know you're st

k. Kill

ll as his bones shattered, reformed, and broke again. He fell to one knee, then rose-taller, broader, monstrous. Th

t unraveling him. "Please," h

ng grooves into the stone floor

color, landing in the courtyard below with a quake that shook the earth. Wind howled thro

it was

ate was

-it was a psychic scream that clawed the inside of the mind. Guards fell like leaves in winter, steel swords bouncing off skin that refused to bleed. T

all, standing still

bel

er eyes shifted-human one breath, luminous silver the next. Her beauty was a mi

rno, her voice barely more than a breath. "L

like thunder dragged beneath the earth. In her palm flickered something veiled, not fully visible-but it puls

he world. The vampire horde surged toward him with fangs bared, sc

ched in

e at him, its laughter digging into his skull, but he caught it mid-air and slammed it into the stone, its body shattering like glas

t. Every drop of blood

m all apart. A

state. But beneath that rage was something darker-his fa

the

re wa

birth

lf legions. Their minds brushed his like smoke-ready to come, to kill

held

ready to b

t

rough the shattered window, face pale and broken. "

uldn't. If he did, he might

tepped forward, untouched, her eyes glowing silver as s

hun

e said, her voice like wind throug

her, a protective dance of death, but even they hesitated now. He had killed too

speak. H

message

ld not

to

o the

t

sters-one born, one made-caught in the storm of fire and blood,