Delphi's gaze drifted to the tall, arched window overlooking the grounds.
Tenebrys was down there, training with the shifters who were all that remained of his people. He was bare-chested, the afternoon sun glinting off the intricate gold markings that coiled over his muscled back and arms. He moved with devastating grace, a fluid dance of predator and king, instructing his men and correcting their form. A god of war preparing to protect his own.
Delphi's heart ached with a sudden, fierce empathy. To have commanded legions, to have ruled a thriving kingdom, and to be reduced to this. Six loyal souls and a cursed land.
The weight he carried would have crushed anyone else. But Tenebrys stood tall in defiance of all the darkness the world had thrown at him.
The mating bond between them flared, a warm current of pure lust that made her body clench with need.
Delphi was still a little tender from the night before, despite the healing bath they had taken. This yearning was a constant, living thing. An obsession that hummed in Delphi's blood, adesperate need to be near him, to touch him, to feel his power and body covering her.
And she knew, with absolute certainty, that he felt it too. She could feel the echo of his own possessiveness, a fierce, unwavering love that was both a shield and a cage. It felt…possessive. And she possessed him right back.
My beast king.
The afternoon was bleeding into gold, the light softening, stretching shadows long across the grass. The lab was stifling, and Delphi felt like no matter what she did, she hit a dead end.
Needing air and perhaps a sneaky kiss from her mate, Delphi pushed away from her work and went outside, drawn toward the gardens that bordered the woods. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and blooming flowers.
She traced the edge of the forest, her new inner map giving her a strange sense of familiarity with the looming trees and where the protective wards hummed. Just for a moment, the world was quiet, peaceful.
And then it wasn't.
A violent, ripping sensation tore through Delphi's magical awareness. It was a shriek of corrupted power, raw and jagged, flaring from deep within the Mistwood. It was nothing like the dormant plague in the soil. This was active. Vicious. A spike of malevolence that made the hair on her arms stand on end and bile rise in her throat.
Delphi stumbled back, a gasp tearing from her lips. Her connection to the château's magic amplified the feeling, an alarm bell tolling in her head.
Something was wrong. Terribly, violently wrong.
"Delphi!" Tenebrys was across the training grounds in seconds, his powerful strides eating up the distance.
The concern pouring from him through their bond hit her like a wave, a testament to how instantly her terror had reached him.
He was there, his hands gripping her arms, steadying her. His golden eyes, blazing with alarm, scanned her face, then swept over the woods. "What is it? What did you feel?"
Before Delphi could answer, a shadow shot out from the canopy.Luna. She flew with a frantic, uneven pattern, a desperate cry escaping her. She crash-landed in the grass near Tenebrys's feet, one of her wings bent at an unnatural angle. A dark, ugly gash marred her sleek side.
Tenebrys knelt, his movements swift and sure as he cradled her to him. "Sweet girl, what happened?"
The cat mewed in pain and fixed her intelligent, luminous eyes on her master. She didn't speak in words, but Delphi could feel a jumble of frantic images pushed into Tenebrys's mind, images that bled through their bond into hers.
She saw an annoyed face she knew all too well, his silver hair, bloodshot eyes, and a mouth set in a scowl that she had grown up fearing.Narcisse.
Another face joined his. Louis Boudon, the sniveling, grasping nobleman who had tried blackmailing her, his expression a sickening mix of greed and lust.
They were riding hard with a small force of soldiers, their horses churning up mud, their eyes fixed on the distant silhouette of the château. One had shot an arrow at Luna, and she had only just managed to dodge it.
"Narcisse," Delphi whispered, the name tasting like ash. "He's with Louis, and they are coming here. They must be fucking mad to go through the Mistwood. My father wouldn't even step into it when you came for him! He's not this courageous, so Louis must have promised him money."
Tenebrys rose, his face a mask of cold fury. His power rolled off him in palpable waves, a low growl rumbling in his chest. "Damn fools. Let them come."
"No," Delphi said, grabbing his arm. "This isn't right."
Her mind was racing, connecting the pieces. The arriving threat. The violent flare of magic. They didn't line up. The power she'd felt… It was older, darker, more elemental than anything she had experienced before.
"Ten, they aren't alone in the woods."
He looked at her, his focus sharpening. "What do you mean?"
