"Where the fuck are you taking me?"
Fifteen minutes of tense silence in the car, and I couldn't stand it anymore. My shadows were practically crawling out of my skin, reaching toward Valen every time he shifted in his seat. Each small movement of his hands on the steering wheel made my cock throb. What the hell was happening to me?
Valen's eyes flicked to me, then back to the road. "Somewhere private."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only one you're getting."
We'd left the city behind, driving into the hills where mansions gave way to dense forest. The roads narrowed, winding up into darkness where streetlights couldn't reach. Perfect place to dump a body. Or create one.
I watched his profile, illuminated briefly each time we passed under sparse lighting. The sharp line of his jaw tensed, relaxed, tensed again. He was fighting something too.
"You're feeling it," I said, not a question.
His fingers tightened on the wheel. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Bullshit." I leaned closer, letting my voice drop. "Your body responds to mine. Just like mine responds to yours."
The car swerved slightly. "Stay on your side of the car, shadow walker."
"Afraid?" I taunted, even as my shadows swirled painfully beneath my skin, desperate to reach for him.
His laugh was cold. "Of you? No. Of what's happening?" His eyes met mine for a split second. "Maybe."
The honesty surprised me. Hunters weren't known for admitting vulnerability, especially not to their prey.
We turned onto a gravel road, then up a narrow drive partially hidden by overgrown trees. The headlights illuminated a cabin—modern, expensive, but isolated. No neighbors for miles.
"Your secret murder shack?" I asked as he parked.
"My private residence." He killed the engine. "One that's not in my clan's records."
That made me pause. "You brought me somewhere your people don't know about?"
He didn't answer, just got out of the car. I followed, the night air cool against my hot skin. The forest surrounding us was dense, alive with night sounds, but something else hummed in the air too. Power. Old power.
"This place is warded," I said, feeling the resonance against my shadows.
"Against shadow walkers, among other things." Valen unlocked the front door. "The fact that you can stand here means something's very wrong."
"Or very right," I muttered.
Inside was minimalist luxury—open floor plan, sleek furniture, massive windows that would offer stunning views in daylight. Now they just reflected our tense forms back at us.
"Take off your jacket," Valen commanded, shrugging off his own.
"Fuck you. I'm not—"
"I need to see your arms." His voice was tight. "The shadow markings."
I hesitated, then peeled off my leather jacket. Beneath my t-shirt, the black veins of shadow were visible even to human eyes, snaking from my wrists up my forearms. I pushed up my sleeves, revealing the full extent.
"Shit," Valen breathed, stepping closer. "How long have they been visible?"
"Three weeks. Started just under the skin. Now they're..." I trailed off as he reached toward me.
"May I?" he asked, hand hovering over my arm.
My cock hardened instantly at just the thought of his touch. "You sure that's smart?"
"No." His eyes darkened. "But necessary."
When his fingers made contact with my skin, electricity shot through me. Pure, undiluted pleasure ripped up my arm and straight to my groin. My shadows exploded outward, curling around his wrist, caressing his skin.
"Fuck," he hissed, but he didn't pull away.
The feeling was indescribable—like being touched everywhere at once, like being penetrated and filled and emptied simultaneously. My knees threatened to buckle.
Valen's eyes had gone wide, pupils blown. His breathing was ragged. "This isn't possible."
"What—" I gasped as my shadows twined higher up his arm. "What is this?"
Instead of answering, he pressed his palm flat against my chest, right over my heart. The pleasure intensified, making me cry out. My shadows responded instantly, wrapping around his arm, seeking skin. One tendril brushed his neck, and he shuddered.
"Eclipse," he murmured, his voice rough with something that sounded dangerously like desire. "The texts call it an Eclipse."
I tried to focus through the haze of sensation. "The perfect opposite."
"You know the legends?"
"Bits and pieces. Shadow walkers finding their counter—"
"—their destroyer," he finished.
"Or savior," I countered.
His hand was still on my chest, my shadows still curled around his arm. Neither of us seemed willing to break contact.
"This can't happen," Valen said, even as he stepped closer. "You understand that, right? My clan would kill us both."
"Then why bring me here?" I challenged, heart racing. "Why not just end me in that club?"
His eyes dropped to my mouth. "Because I've been hunting you for months, Kai Chen. And not just because of what you are."
The confession hung in the air between us, heavy with implication. He'd known who I was before tonight. Had sought me out specifically.
"What the fuck does that mean?" I demanded, even as my traitor body leaned toward his.
Before he could answer, a sharp pain lanced through my arm. The shadows darkened, turning an inky black that seemed to absorb all light. I cried out, doubling over.
"Kai!" Valen caught me as my legs gave out.
The moment he fully embraced me, the pain vanished, replaced by pleasure so intense it bordered on agony. My shadows erupted from every pore, surrounding us both in a swirling cocoon of darkness.
"What's happening?" I gasped against his neck, inhaling his scent.
"Your power is evolving." His voice was strained. "And it's chosen me as its catalyst."
I pulled back enough to look at him. "Why you? Why a fucking hunter?"
His eyes met mine, and what I saw there made my breath catch. Hunger. Raw, unfiltered hunger.
"Because I'm not just any hunter, Kai." His hand moved to my jaw, tilting my face up. "I'm the last of the Nightfell line. The only ones who can contain shadow walkers without destroying them."
"Contain?" My voice was embarrassingly breathless.
His thumb brushed my lower lip, sending shocks of pleasure straight to my dick. "Bind them. Control them." His eyes darkened further. "Complete them."
The implications hit me like a physical blow. "You want to—"
"I have to," he corrected. "Or your shadows will consume you from the inside out. They're already trying."
As if to prove his point, pain shot through me again, making me cry out. The shadows on my arms pulsed, stretching toward him like they were being pulled by a magnet.
"Fuck," I hissed through clenched teeth. "Make it stop."
"I can," he said, his face inches from mine. "But you won't like the method."
"Try me," I growled.
His eyes flashed. "Complete surrender, Kai. Your shadows to my control."
"Never." I tried to pull away, but my own shadows held me to him, traitors.
"Then you'll die." His voice was matter-of-fact. "Probably within days."
"There has to be another way."
"There isn't." His hand slid to the back of my neck, firm, controlling. "The Eclipse bond is absolute. Fight it, and it destroys you. Accept it..."
"And it what? We live happily ever fucking after?" I snarled.
His laugh was low, dangerous. "No. We fuck. We bind. We become something neither of our kinds has seen in centuries."
Heat pooled in my groin at his words, at the image they conjured. My cock was painfully hard now, pressing against my jeans. I could see the outline of his erection too, thick and imposing against the fabric of his pants.
"And if I say no?" I managed.
"Then I'll take you back to the city and let you die." His hand tightened on my neck. "Your choice."
The pain came again, worse this time. My vision blacked out for a second, and when it cleared, Valen's face was tight with concern.
"You don't have long," he said. "The shadow corruption is accelerating."
"Why should I trust you?" I gasped.
"You shouldn't." His eyes burned into mine. "But right now, I'm the only chance you've got."
Another wave of pain dropped me to my knees. Valen followed me down, still holding me. My shadows writhed in agony, reaching for him desperately.
"Please," they seemed to whisper. "Please, please, please."
I'd never begged for anything in my life. But as the darkness rose inside me, threatening to consume everything I was, I looked up at Valen Nightfell—my sworn enemy, my supposed savior—and did the unthinkable.
"Help me," I whispered.
Something flashed in his eyes—triumph, relief, hunger. He leaned forward until his lips brushed my ear. "Say it properly, shadow walker."
I knew what he wanted. The humiliation burned almost as much as the pain. Almost.
"Please," I choked out. "I need you."
Not enough. We both knew it.
His hand fisted in my hair, pulling my head back to expose my throat. "Tell me what you really need, Kai."
"Fuck you," I gasped, even as my shadows caressed his face, begging for what I couldn't voice.
"Maybe later." His lips brushed my jaw. "But first, I need to hear you say it."
Another wave of pain. Worse. So much worse. My vision tunneled.
"I—I need—" I couldn't breathe.
"Yes?" His voice was silk and steel.
"I need you to bind me," I finally choked out. "Please, fuck, make it stop."
His smile was victorious, predatory. "That's a start."
Then his mouth was on mine, hard and demanding, and the universe exploded into sensation. My shadows engulfed us both as his tongue pushed past my lips, claiming me with a ferocity that matched the shadows' hunger.
I should have fought. Should have killed him for daring to control me. Instead, I found myself kissing him back with equal violence, my hands fisting in his shirt, pulling him closer.
When he finally broke the kiss, we were both panting. The pain had receded, but something else had taken its place—a hollow ache, a need so profound it terrified me.
"That's just the beginning," Valen said, his voice rough. "The binding requires much more."
"How much more?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
His hand slid down my chest, my stomach, coming to rest just above the button of my jeans. "Everything, Kai. I need everything."
My cock throbbed in response, pre-come dampening my underwear. I'd never wanted anyone like this—like I'd die without their touch.
"And if I give you everything?" My voice didn't sound like my own.
"Then I save your life." His fingers traced the outline of my erection, making me bite back a moan. "And you belong to me."
"I belong to no one," I snarled, even as my hips pushed against his hand.
His smile was dangerous. "We'll see."
He stood suddenly, pulling me to my feet. The world spun, and I staggered against him.
"Time to choose, shadow walker," he said, stepping back, breaking all contact.
Immediately, the pain returned, my shadows reaching desperately for him.
"Full surrender," he continued, "or a quick ride back to the city where you can die free."
I stared at him, this man I was supposed to hate, this hunter who claimed he could save me through the most intimate violation possible. Who wanted to bind me to him forever.
"What's it going to be?" he asked, his eyes never leaving mine.
The shadows under my skin screamed for him. My body ached for his touch. My mind rebelled at the thought of surrender.
But as another wave of pain crashed over me, bringing me back to my knees, I realized I had no choice. Not if I wanted to live.
I looked up at Valen, at the power and hunger in his eyes, and made my decision.
"I choose—"
A deafening crash cut off my words as the cabin's front window exploded inward, showering us with glass. Through the broken window stepped a figure dressed in black, silver weapons gleaming at his belt.
Another hunter.
"Step away from the shadow walker, Nightfell," the newcomer said, his voice cold. "The Council wants him alive."
Valen's face transformed into something terrifying—the mask of a killer. "You shouldn't have come here, Marcus."
The hunter—Marcus—smiled thinly. "Did you really think they wouldn't track you? That they wouldn't know what you're trying to do?"
My shadows writhed in agony, torn between reaching for Valen and defending against the new threat. Without Valen's touch, the pain was becoming unbearable.
"The Council has plans for this one," Marcus continued, drawing a silver blade. "The last fully manifested shadow walker. They've been looking for him for months."
Valen's eyes flicked to me, then back to Marcus. "He's dying. The shadow corruption—"
"Will be contained our way," Marcus cut him off. "Not with your heretical methods."
Understanding dawned, sickening and clear. The Council—Valen's leaders—had known about me all along. Had been hunting me. But for what?
"What do they want with me?" I managed to ask through the pain.
Marcus smiled coldly. "Your power, of course. Extracted and contained."
"That will kill him," Valen snarled.
"A necessary sacrifice."
In that moment, with pain consuming me and enemies on all sides, I made my choice. I looked at Valen, the hunter who'd brought me here, who'd offered a chance at survival—even if it came with chains of its own.
"Valen," I gasped. "I choose—"
Marcus lunged forward with inhuman speed, silver blade arcing toward my throat.