“No. I am finished.” Vector lifted his gaze, slow, heavy. “Take me home.” He and his brother had been born not far from here. The small cottage where they’d played and chased one anotheras boys all those centuries ago was still there. His brother had renovated the small property before he lost his mind. Vector had taken solace there many times when he’d believed all was lost. It was the only place left on this earth he ever felt a moment’s peace. He would die there. “The cliffs.”
Erik would know where King Ryker had been born. He was nearly as old as Vector’s brother and there were not many of their kind left. Fewer still as old as the two kings.
Emerald green eyes locked with ice blue. “Very well.”
Vector’s body shuddered with relief. He wrapped the dragon chains around his blood-slicked wrist, trapping his dragon deep inside with powerful elven magic. There could be no mistakes. No magical healing. No more pain. He refused to become a monster. “Thank you.”
Then— darkness.
CHAPTER 1
Raven MacInnes – Evening, Highland Cliffs, Scotland
The lightof the Aurora Borealis stretched across theClo Mor Cliffs, casting rippling waves of green and violet over the jagged coastline. The ocean below shimmered with an unnatural glow, the reflections of the aurora turning the waves into shifting ribbons of liquid fire.
Raven adjusted the controls on her drone, her gloved fingers steady despite the bite of the cold wind. On her phone screen, the luxury estate came into view—Drake’s Hollow, a monolith of dark stone and glass perched on the cliffs like something out of legend. Against the aurora’s glow, the estate’s massive windows mirrored the sky, making it seem as though the house itself pulsed with otherworldly energy.
Raven adjusted the controls on her drone, her gloved fingers steady despite the bite of the cold wind. On her phone screen, the luxury estate came into view—Drake’s Hollow, a monolith of dark stone and glass perched on the cliffs like something out of legend. Against the aurora’s glow, the estate’s massive windowsmirrored the sky, making it seem as though the house itself pulsed with otherworldly energy.
Million-dollar home. Floor-to-ceiling windows. Private ocean access. Helipad. The kind of property that would sell itself—if anyone knew it existed.
That was where she came in.
She shifted slightly on the rocky overlook, angling the drone for the perfect aerial shot overlooking the cliffs.
The screen glitched.
A quick, sharp distortion in the live drone feed.
Raven frowned, adjusting the signal. Weird. Reception should be strong enough this high up. Maybe the cliffs were interfering? Or the aurora?
She rotated the camera toward the coastline for a few final shots—then froze.
A figure lay sprawled near the cliff’s edge.
Unmoving. Bloody.
Her stomach plummeted.
She zoomed in with the drone’s camera. Male. Large build. Clothes torn, dark with blood.
Hemoved.
“Oh, hell no.” She straightened, fingers tightening around the controller. Her first instinct was a warning siren in her head.Walk away. You don’t know him. Don’t get involved.
Her second instinct—the one her conscience wouldn’t let her ignore—was louder.
What if he’s dying?
It had been two years since she’d last seen a man on the ground, bleeding out. Since she’d last had to make a decision like this.
That time, she had been too late.
She cursed, forcing her legs to move.
A second glitch rattled through the drone’s feed, distorting the image of the man for a brief second—just long enough for her stomach to twist with unease.
“Shit.”
