ack. There was n

r apartment is broken, your world unrecognizable, and the man sta

didn'

wai

ossessive.

ill warm. Still pulsing faintly with energy tha

lose. The hallway was silent, the building asleep, the

ough a hidden access panel in the laundry room she'd never noticed

" she asked as they

" Lucien replied. "Old

ne, inscribed with symbols that shifted when she looked at them too long. She felt

re you t

safe

eing near you c

unreadable. "If I wanted to harm you

rmi

for

rif

llowed

symbol that had sealed the envelope he'd sent her. As Lucien approached, th

em: anoth

and obsidian. Flames burned in silver sconces, casting strange shadows.

and stared as

iosity. Other

eak to them. Did

oved out of his way like t

ng at me like that?

u're not on

I feel like

top of a staircase th

ou're some

"Stop speakin

her. "Do you reme

tion was

stem. Foster homes. Files say she d

s what they wante

t him. "What

true hybrids - part human, part bloodborn. She ran from th

allowed ha

loodline threat

hit like

t under

u w

doors. Inside: a lavish chamber carved from obsidian and velvet. A hi

ur room," L

linked. "

keep you

oes it feel

"Because part of you ha

her arms.

just bloodborn. Y

king away. "I didn'

oice was low, deep, hungry. "It's

lls

ill feel it. Every time I look at you, your heart races.

eeks f

sn't

infuria

here," she sai

ndant at her throat.

adows large and wild across the wall. She looked at hi

t just d

as l

osen her to f

was alone, Arielle sat on the edge of the bed staring

t know th

skin looked lit from within. The way her blood thrummed

d the pend

ve. Beating like

l of fire, fangs, and a name w

t before a pool of black water, speaking to

waking,"

darkness, like a thousan

hen sh

burned. "She

estro