Blackw

tion of a predator that has finally cornered its prey. *Now

le cocktail of despair, heartbreak, and a soul-deep lonelines

ed instantly. A choked sob escaped my lips. My knees buckled, and I sank to the floor, curling

busy dealing with his far more important political rival. He would hear the news and feel a flicker of something-not love, but relief. Relief

s was a submarine, running silent, running deep. This connection, this pipel

oing to fol

eature of instinct and emotion, incapable of understanding its complex na

chine. I moved through pathways of pure information, past s

re 'authentic,' Stellan Maris began to fe

at bound the Blackwood Alpha line to a repeating fate

as trapped in this cycle. Gideon hadn't died

ing the knife. *He should have lost. But an ally, using a forbidden arti

tion as Alpha, was built upon a foundation of lies and blood. S

it nearly burned through my disguise. It gave me more reason th

suddenly broke through a

gness, was a scroll. It was ancient, woven from what looked like moonlight and shadow, and it glowed

The source code. The

ushed against its surface, an a

roared, its voice filled with genuine shock and terror.

gle, desperate act. I forged a psychic link between my own mind and the scro

hic. It felt like my very soul was being ripped in

my eyes. I tasted salt and copper as a spray of blood burst from my lips, s

guards burst through the door, their

ler! The Lun

t thought echoed in the ruins of my mind. The p

was w

nd y

a primal fear. He touched her forehead, expecting the heat of madness, but found only a profound, unnatural cold, a