was cold, ancient

from the shadows. "Child of the Ec

been laced with dread. I instinctively took a step back, but K

he growled, claws halfwa

y. "Your shadow, your pas

it at

e of

moment, it was cloaked in the corner; the next, its c

nd the impact sent shockwa

s with the figure. I wasn't just watching a fight

igure moved like it had no s

eyes fo

force wrapped around my limb

ted. The shadow's claws ripped i

I sc

urged from my core, colder than frost, sharper tha

nking it off Kieran with invisible chains.

igure writhed in th

my name," I said, voice

, then vanished in

ark Re

all, breathing hard, blood sti

asked, stepp

h something unreada

so," I

veins of shadowlight. My Eclipse Wolf powers were growi

pped to my wrist.

ha

e, on the skin, was a strange crescent-s

pears when your wolf accepts the bond... or

e w

ng. "Old enemies. They live in th

So that thin

. "This mark means you're awakening. Which al

rt racing. "And you? Yo

yes softened. "I think you

s Betw

through the m

ouched by shadow magic, I could feel everything more vividly: his tension,

h tria, a massive obsidian door, etched wit

"One more room,

e door. It c

ridor. And on the other side, w

s of me and Kieran, standing

forward, we

e on," I

y. "They're Shadow Echoes. They'll use our

rfe

e began i

t I'd always be the outsider, that Kieran would never trul

fought

the mirror, yelling

ror sha

own his echo with a guttural r

ing, bloodied, surro

e, something r

rong," he said. "Yo

akly. "Than

hed. "Come on.

ond Ti

ing crystal pillars. In the center floated a sil

e he could touch it, a blinding

ught

ck as his weight slammed into me. We stu

tween us. A voice

prize. The one whose hea

stare

hell does

ered. "It's asking who woul

y. "You should

let me

he orb, but Kieran

he said

y n

answer w

isse

tly. No

said. His hands framed my face, and his lips claime

t, he whispered, "

ned and tou

ight then dimmed

al was

Comes

triumphant. Outside, the other teams stared som

dge them. He walked be

d on the balcony, the moonlight pain

n joi

t it,"

t him. "Me

est. "Even if I still don't understand why you

him. "I never

"And whether I like it

ossessiveness. Instead,

es dar

has are gathering. And they want to challenge y

iffe

spered. "Because

ut, fingers

l be by y