I tilted my head back and groaned, but something caught my eye—the mirror, a blurred canvas of fog, had a clear jagged arrow etched through the condensation. It pointed toward the sandstone sink. There, crumpled and discarded, lay a piece of off-white paper, its edges singed and curling from the moisture in the air.
My name was scrawled across it in a handwriting that held a sick familiarity.
Then,hisscent hit me.
Rod Shadowheart.
I froze. Every single one of my muscles coiled, almost like they were ready to snap. But the matebond whispered to me like it was trying to soothe me itself—Pandora was okay.
For now.
I yanked the towel tightly around my waist and stormed forward, snatching up the letter. My hands trembled to spite me as I smoothed it flat. I hated that I was ingrained to be afraid of that fucking monster.
Son of mine,
It seems you are not taking me seriously. You’ve marked her, and now, you must die along with the rest of her mates. The Fates don’t know what they’re doing. The Veil is superior, and it always will be.
Mating Pandora, Penny’s daughter, should give me the dark magic impact that rejecting Penny should have. I will infect her again and succeed. The water bottle was easy enough to get to, son. I’m going to take back what you have stolen from me. I’m going to kill her mates one by one until the only one she has left is me. Don’t worry, I’ll save you for last and decapitate you in front of her.
—Rod
Nausea twisted in my gut. Sweat beaded on my skin, mingling with the cooling droplets and making them fall faster, heavier.
Delusional.
He was absolutely fucking delusional.
It washim—not Dark Veil—Rod. He’d poisoned her water. He had always been after me, but now he wanted Pandora. My mate. His desire was to break me, toconsumeher. He wanted to destroy the one soul in the world that I would sacrifice everything for.
But it wouldn’t fucking happen.
She was mine, and I would doanythingto protect her.
Shadows lashed violently from me, black tendrils cracking against the sandstone walls and the bathroom’s polished surfaces. The mirror cracked under the force.
A scream tore through my psyche as panic surged down the matebond.
Pandora.
Fuck. Where was she?
I tore open the bathroom door, bursting into the bedroom where the matebond told me she was.
The soft golden light flickered off the walls, and long, ominous shadows cast around the edges. Pandora stood at the center, her marked hand raised toward the ceiling as the other clutched her wrist to keep her hand upright.
My shadow magic had lost control, and it was tearing through her. My tendril whipped wildly around from her mark.
“Stay away!” Pandora’s voice broke, raw and terrified. “I don’t want to hurt you!”
“Dream girl, you won’t,” Reed pleaded with her.
“We don’t care if you do,” Skel promised. “We can heal, princess.”
“Just let us—” Bram was cut off.
“No!” she shouted before choking on a sob. Tears filled her red eyes. “I don’t want to hurt you!”
“You’re not in control, starlight.” Hunter used his soothing counselor tone with her. “Let us help you.”
