“Yes,” Raja murmured, his voice echoing through the dark expanse. “I can feel you. You are no mere prison. You are greater than that. You aremine.”
TheNushtoniapulsed in response, its power surging through him like a tidal wave. He embraced it, letting it flood his senses and remind him of who he was—whathe was. The djinn, in their arrogance, had thought they could bind him, but they had only made him stronger. By trapping him in theNushtonia, they had tethered his essence to its power, and that power had grown far beyond what even they could have imagined.
Now, as he stood in the center of his prison-turned-kingdom, he could taste the desperation of those who had sought to claim the book’s power. Each of them had left a part of themselves behind. Their essence was absorbed into theNushtonia, feeding it and fueling it.
Fuelinghim.
He stretched out his arms, and the surrounding darkness responded, swirling like a living thing. Tendrils of shadow rose and fell, curling around him like loyal servants. His presence filled the void, and theNushtoniabounded in time with his heartbeat, its sentience practically singing with anticipation.
“Soon,” Raja’s growled, reverberating through the expanse. “Soon, they will know what it means to defy me.”
He could feel the bonds of his imprisonment weakening as the walls of theNushtoniastrained under the weight of its own power. The book was no longer a cage. It was a weapon, a vessel for his vengeance. It had absorbed so much darkness, so much greed and ambition, that it could no longer contain him.
The djinn had made a mistake.
By creating theNushtonia, they had given him the means to rise again. They had forged a weapon of such immense power that it could rival even their own magic, and they had bound him to it. And now, after centuries of silence, it was ready to unleash him.
Raja’s smile widened. He could feel the world beyond theNushtonia, could sense the realms that had forgotten him. The Balance the djinn had fought so hard to protect was fragile now, weaker than it had ever been. And when he returned, he would shatter it.
The world would remember his name.
Raja. The true Ruler of Life and Death.
TheNushtoniacaressed his skin like a lover, its sentience showering him in agreement, and Raja closed his eyes, letting its power flood through him. He had waited centuries for this moment, and now, it was only a matter of time.
The djinn had created a prison, but they hadn’t weakened him as they’d hoped. They’d only made him more. A god in his own right, but now no longer limited by the weight of his responsibility to his realm. And soon, the world would bow before him.
Chapter 1
“The world is always changing. We can either evolve with it or become obsolete. I fear that there will be some of us who have aged past the point of being able to accept the changes.” ~ Boain
The shadows of the alley seemed to stretch and twist around Lorna and Boain, as if they sought to choke out the light. Lorna’s sharp eyes scanned the dim scene before her, the faint glow of a single streetlight illuminating the beings. Her mate, Boain, stood at her side, his broad shoulders tense, his wolf just beneath the surface. She could feel his emotions swirling through their bond: anger, frustration, and a bone-deep weariness that mirrored her own.
“How are there so many?” Lorna whispered as she glanced at the crumbling apartment complex ahead. The hybrids inside, the grotesque offspring of vampire and werewolf DNA, moved like shadows themselves, their movements too quick, too calculated.
Boain’s jaw tightened as he leaned against the brick wall beside her, his golden eyes glowing faintly in the dark. “Cain must have figured out a way for them to transition faster.” His voice was low, a rumble she felt in her chest. “Or maybe the wolf DNA accelerates the process when mixed with the vampire. Either way, it’s a problem that’s multiplying faster than we can keep up with.”
Lorna nodded. “Months of hunting these things feels like years. Fighting them, tracking them, trying to save the dormants who haven’t lost themselves to the darkness yet. It’s like trying to put out a forest fire with a garden hose.”
Boain opened his mouth to respond, but a soft vibration cut through the tension. His phone. Even with their supernatural senses, the sound was enough to make them flinch. Boain pulled the device from his pocket, his movements sharp and precise.
“Hello?” His voice was clipped, carrying that edge of authority that came so naturally to him. Lorna watched him carefully, her wolf hearing straining to catch the voice on the other end. But whoever it was had lowered their tone, keeping the conversation private—smart, considering the hybrids lurking just a stone’s throw away.
She didn’t need to hear the words to know something was wrong. She felt it through their bond: the sudden spike of tension, the way his free hand moved to her waist, gripping her like she was his anchor in a storm. His jaw clenched, and his eyes began to glow brighter, his wolf rising to the surface as his emotions churned.
“How long ago?” Boain’s voice was sharper now, more urgent. He shifted on his feet, like a predator barely holding himself back from lunging. Lorna placed her hand on his chest, her touch soothing but firm, grounding him as much as he was grounding her.
“What do you mean you’re trapped in the sprite realm?” he demanded, his brow furrowing deeply. “All the veils are closed?”
His words sent a chill racing down Lorna’s spine. Closed veils were never a good sign. They weren’t just barriers. They were locks. And locked veils only ever meant one thing: chaos.
Her stomach twisted as Boain’s emotions bled through their bond; anger, fear, and disbelief, all swirling together in a storm that threatened to pull her under. She tightened her hold on him, silently reminding him that she was there, and that they were in this together. Always.
“Who’s with you?” Boain barked into the phone, his grip tightening until Lorna thought the device might shatter in his hand. “So, Tyler, and Jeff are all still in the US?” He paused, listening intently. “Have you contacted them? Good. Just one question. How the hell are you calling me on a cell phone from the sprite realm if the veils are sealed?”
Lorna blinked, her brows lifting in surprise. That was … a good question.
Boain’s lips twitched into a humorless smirk. “I suppose we forget that Peri isn’t the only powerful high fae. Only because she flaunts it in our faces every chance she gets.”
