Fen watched from his throne as Syrus walked, no longer limping, from the passage cave of the garden toward the center of the mountain, where the opening above welcomed the dawn and the rising sun.
Most of his hybrids remained hidden within the darker reaches of the mountain, some in human form while the newer hybrids paced restlessly through the shadows.
The mage still wore his torn purple silk robe over black clothes stained with dried mud—far too modern to bask comfortably in his own skin.
Fen scoffed.
He had held high hopes after seeing the mage heal completely, only to be told his rebirth had to be delayed because of spells and tedious requirements.
Perhaps his indifference toward the ritual's formalities had provoked the tree witch into ignoring his summons.
The moment Syrus reached the center of the mountain, Fen spoke.
"Your healing magic is exceptional," he said.
Syrus turned toward him, his face noticeably different now, holding a three-day-old stubble darkening his jaw.
Not even a scratch upon his dirt-stained face.
"The last sorcerer I acquainted with, centuries ago, wasn't nearly as skilled at healing others—or himself—that well without hints at least," Fen continued.
Syrus swallowed and instinctively lowered his gaze.
"You…you gave me no choice," he replied.
"Your confidence in your magic should be enough to meet my eyes," Fen growled.
Syrus immediately lifted his gaze.
"I simply respect your presence and power, Alpha."
Fen inhaled, his curiosity quickly overshadowing the mage's answer.
"You encountered Azael directly, as you claimed?"
"Yes, I did."
"And between the two of us," Fen continued, "whose power and Presence supersede the other's?"
He fixed the mage beneath an unwavering stare.
Fen did not want flattery any more than he wanted lies.
Curiosity compelled the question, given Syrus possessed enough knowledge—and power—to draw Azael's attention and wrath.
That alone made his opinion worth hearing.
He caught the brief flicker of hesitation crossing Syrus's composure before he finally answered.
"Your power will be undeniably greater after the ritual," Syrus said. "Azael is simply nothing without the demon within him."
Fen answered with a scoff and a faint smirk.
"Yet you risked a whole kingdom's army just to reach him."
"I wasn't acting independently," Syrus replied, briefly shifting his gaze before returning it to Fen, "I was also following the king's orders."
"Don't underestimate my logic, mage," Fen warned. "Your dedication to studying him hardly aligns with merely obeying orders—not when you've now abandoned the very king you once served and sought refuge here."
"I was a victim of defeat," Syrus replied, his jaw hardening. "Just as they were. But I was punished unjustly for knowledge I had no control over."
"I'm not asking your side of the story," Fen said, tilting his head slightly as he leaned farther back against his throne.
Silence settled between them.
Confusion briefly crossed Syrus's face.
"I'm reading you to warn you," Fen continued. "Whatever drives your fascination with power must not interfere with mine. Azael's defeat belongs to me."
The scent of fear drifted from where the mage stood.
Fen smirked.
Good.
His message had been understood.
"Yes, Alpha," Syrus replied, lowering his gaze once more.
"Carry on your inspection," Fen said. "Time is both your greatest ally…and your greatest enemy."
Syrus nodded before turning away, making his way beneath the opening at the mountain's peak.
**
"Your father sends his regards," the waiting maid said, standing before Diana with her head bowed.
Her dark hair was neatly tied back beneath Sirence's navy blue maid's cap, matching the mid-flared gown uniform with its crisp white collar.
Diana sighed, partly from exhaustion, as she sat in an elegant purple dress upon the wide royal bed, layered with cream and crimson linen, her fists clenched in the sheets at either sides of her.
She had her head bowed too.
The room was devoid of sunlight. Heavy crimson curtains concealed the windows, leaving the chamber dim despite the daylight beyond.
"He's never coming to see me," Diana said quietly. "Is he?"
"He's just been…" the maid began.
"Don't make excuses," Diana interrupted, lifting her head at the same moment the maid did until their eyes met. "I know why he isn't here. Even you would leave if given the chance."
The maid hesitated, her blue eyes flickering uncertainly between Diana and the floor as she searched for her words carefully.
Fighting the tears gathering in her eyes, Diana spoke again.
"To him, I am nothing but an abomination now because of them."
"That's not—" the maid tried again, meeting Diana's gaze.
"Don't flatter me, Jade," Diana cut in once more. "I could have said no.
I could have ignored the kingdom's security and fled from all of this."
Diana closed her eyes and lowered her head again, her fists tightening around the sheets.
The kingdom she had once ruled—and her own family—had turned their backs on her.
She had genuinely believed that if she somehow overcame the vampires who held her captive, she would free her people.
Instead, her own people had already accepted her as the bargain.
Even her father.
"We don't blame you, my queen," Jade said softly. "Your father is only trying…trying to be cautious."
"I'm not asking for a savior," Diana replied bitterly.
Lately, she had found herself clinging emotionally to the very men who had taken everything from her.
Thorne and Evren.
Even in their absence last night, her body had missed them.
The familiar amber scent of their bodies seemed to linger on either side of her.
Some nights they spoke.
Most nights they took her over the edge of pleasure again and again.
She lifted her face, drawing in the afternoon air.
Could she truly blame her father for staying away? Would he have visited if there had only been one king…and if that king had not been a vampire?
"I believe your father simply needs time," Jade began gently. "It's been—"
A knock interrupted her.
Both women turned toward the door at once.
Perhaps it was one of the guards.
Diana frowned.
How dare they interrupt her? Had those bloodsucking kings ordered that she wasn't allowed a moment of privacy?
"Who's there?" Jade asked, a hint of fear creeping into her blue eyes, no doubt because of the last time their escape had been discovered.
Diana rolled her eyes.
Of course, Jade wouldn't know how her own body had paid the price for the failed attempt.
Her so-called war strategist had devised that terrible plan.
The ache at her neck pulsed immediately, and her thighs instinctively tensed as memories of Thorne's fangs and Evren's thrusts surfaced.
"A message for Queen Diana," a male voice called from the other side of the door, calm and unhurried, pulling her from her disgraceful thoughts.
She looked toward Jade, who returned the glance with the same puzzled expression.
Jade had always been the one to bring news from home.
Perhaps the kings but they hadn't sent information to her this way in the past.
Swallowing nervously, Jade began to approach the door with careful steps.
"You have one more chance to halt in the name of the kings!" another voice shouted from outside.
Jade froze instantly.
Diana stiffened.
"Queen of Titan," the man outside called again. "Open! My message is urgent."
Diana and Jade's eyes met.
Neither woman spoke.
The same panic settled over them.
The noise of gunshots immediately desecrated the silence outside.
Diana slid from the bed onto her knees while Jade instinctively ducked, both hands covering her head.
There was a war in Sirence?
Diana was surprised.
No monarch within the next twenty distant countries would dare challenge Sirence so recklessly unless Sirence itself had first set its eyes upon them, as it once had upon Titan.
Heavy pulling sounds pulled both their attention back toward the door.
Something slammed against it.
Then again.
The thick wooden door groaned as the concrete around its hinges began to crack, the only barrier separating the chaos outside from the chamber within.
Diana wasted no time.
She crawled quickly along the side of the dark wood carved bed frame to its bottom edge.
She had to get to the windows.
As she turned to approach the heavy crimson curtains on the opposite side of the room, she paused and glanced back.
Jade remained exactly where she was, trembling on the floor with her hands still covering her head.
The door pounded harder and gunshots got louder.
"Move with me!" Diana whispered fiercely.
But the terror in Jade's eyes was too deep.
Far too heavy for the escape Diana had in mind.
Tears blurred Diana's vision.
She blinked them away and crawled swiftly across the wide bed toward the curtains.
There was no more time.
Only Jade could choose to save herself.
The moment Diana reached the curtains, everything stopped.
The pounding ceased.
So did the gunfire.
Silence.
Then a man's scream echoed through the passage, stretching into a horrifying growl as gunfire erupted once more.
"Pass the silver!" another voice screamed from outside.
Diana pulled the curtains apart.
Sunlight spilled across her face as the afternoon breeze swept her golden hair backward.
Panic began to tear deeper into her as her gaze dropped toward the castle grounds below, where a thick stretch of bushes covered the base of the tower.
It was the perfect place to disappear. Beyond the castle's compound, it offered both cover and a chance to escape.
She might even escape Sirence altogether.
Just not to Titan.
The height wasn't enough to kill her, but it would leave her injured, at least not dead.
She gritted her teeth briefly as the snarling outside grew louder.
Turning back toward the room, she gathered the heavy fabric of her gown in trembling fists.
What was taking so long?
With that much gunfire whatever was outside should already have been dead.
The pounding returned.
This time it ripped the door completely off its hinges.
Jade screamed where she knelt, still shielding her head.
Diana hesitated no longer.
She swung one leg over the windowsill.
Those bullets would never save her in time.
She looked once more toward the bushes below, silently praying they would be dense enough to soften her fall.
The door burst open.
Diana's head snapped toward it.
The terrifying sight that met her was a massive grey wolf, far larger than any man, huffing and puffing in the doorway as sparks from the gunfire flew around it, doing nothing to slow it.
Its lips peeled back over enormous teeth as it growled, forcing its hulking body through the doorway.
Diana's hands tightened around the stone window frame as panic overtook her again.
Ahead, Jade's screams only grew louder.
What the hell was that? Her war strategist's favorite phrase.
Sirence truly fought a different kind of war from the kingdoms scattered across the distant lands.
Diana turned back toward the open air.
One leg already dangled down the smooth outer walls of the tower.
The curtains were secured high above, impossible to tear free with her bare hands.
Trembling, she swung her second leg over the windowsill.
Only her stomach remained balanced against the stone as her fingers clung desperately to the edge.
The sound of crumbling concrete drew her gaze toward the door once more.
The beast had forced its way inside.
Flashes of gunfire closing in behind it—-
—but not quickly enough.
In a single bound, the wolf lunged toward the screaming Jade.
Diana gasped as terror overwhelmed her.
Just before its enormous claws descended toward the helpless maid—
her own arms gave way.
She slipped, plunging in a blur through sharp branches and leaves below.