"If her essence is dormant, how will she react when it awakens?"
Kora's expression turned grave. "That is the greatest risk. When shadow essence awakens in one not born to it, the experience can be overwhelming. You must be there to guide her, to help her control it."
"And if I can't?"
"Then you both may be consumed by it."
The weight of her words settled over me like a burial shroud. I was gambling not only with my life but with this innocent human as well.
"When do I leave?"
"Tonight. The new moon will make it easier for you to travel through the shadow paths." She stood, offering her hand to helpme up. "The human world has changed since any of our kind walked among them. You will need to adapt quickly."
I rose without taking her hand. "I've studied them. Their technology. Their customs."
"Books and observation can only teach so much. Experience is a harsher but more effective teacher." She walked to a small altar at the far end of the chamber. "There is one more thing."
From beneath a black cloth, she removed a silver pendant in the shape of our tribe's symbol, a crescent moon embracing a star.
"This will help you control your powers in the human world. The silver absorbs excess shadow energy. Wear it always."
I took the pendant, slipping it over my head. The metal felt cool against my skin.
"What exactly am I to do when I find her?"
Elder Kora's expression was unreadable. "First, you must gain her trust. Then, when the time is right, you will know how to awaken her essence and complete the bond."
"And if she doesn't want this? If she rejects our ways?"
"Then you return alone, and we find another way to save our people." She touched my arm gently. "But I believe in prophecy, Varkolak. And the signs point to this woman. To Aya."
I closed my eyes, trying to imagine the face of the woman who might save us all. Or destroy me completely.
CHAPTER 3
Aya
The Sacrarium loomed before me, towers of gleaming obsidian and pearl stretching toward the sky like grasping fingers. My heart hammered against my ribs as the escort guards ushered me up the hundred steps leading to the massive entrance.
"Keep moving," one of them muttered, not unkindly.
I'd never seen anything like this place. Back in our colony, buildings were practical things made of salvaged materials and weathered wood. Nothing like this. The sheer scale of it made me dizzy.
"Is this where the ceremony happens?" I asked, my voice embarrassingly small.
The guard nodded. "The Binding Room is in the central chamber."
Binding. The word sent a shiver through me. I was here to be bound to a creature I'd never met. All because my DNA sample matched whatever criteria they used for selecting mates for the shadow beings of the East.
The massive doors swung open without a sound. Inside, the ceiling soared so high I couldn't make out where it ended.Light poured through stained glass windows, casting jewel-toned reflections across the polished stone floor. My new shoes seemed to dirty the place just by touching it.
"This way." A tall woman in flowing white robes appeared beside me. Her face was stern, but not cruel. "The others are waiting."
Others. I swallowed hard. Including him. My husband-to-be.
I followed her through high-ceilinged corridors, where my footsteps echoed like tiny thunder claps. With each step, my legs felt heavier. What was I doing here? I'd agreed to this arrangement because what else did I have? An overcrowded orphanage. Days spent fishing for crustations just to survive. No family, no future.
But now, surrounded by cold grandeur, I wondered if I'd made a terrible mistake.
