Silence fell heavily between us. The chanting around the dais intensified as more initiates filled the chamber, all of them dressed in variations of gold and white beneath the drifting temple lights. Beauty wrapped around control was everywhere I looked. The Sythari were masters at that. Nothing cruel was ever called cruel. Girls were not bred. They were Ascended. Bloodlines were not cultivated. They were honored. Lives were not owned. They were devoted.
The prettier the cage, the less likely people were to notice the bars.
“You should be proud,” the taller initiate said softly, though uncertainty threaded through her voice now. “The Prime Seeress herself chose you.”
That was exactly the problem. Before I could answer, a strange warmth suddenly slid across the back of my neck. I went still instantly. The light inside the chamber shifted. The golden glow around the dais darkened into richer hues, honey and amber folded together, while the noise around me dulled strangely.
There he was again. Not fully visible. He never was. I only ever got impressions of a tall male standing beyond the light itself. His broad shoulders were wrapped in darkness and gold. Golden hair glinted in the firelight. His eyes burned like collapsing suns. The sight of him struck through me violently, familiar enough now that my pulse reacted before my mind could.
He looked at me. Not with the reverence the Temple girls did. His gaze was hungry, possessive. Like he already knew me.A slow smile curved his mouth, making him appear even more beautiful. Heat unfurled low in my stomach instantly. Then he tilted his head once in silent invitation.
Come.
The sensation slammed through me hard enough that I staggered slightly. The vision shattered immediately afterward. Cold temple light rushed back into place. The chanting returned. The initiates were staring at me nervously.
“Naeris?”
I inhaled carefully. “I’m fine.”
A lie.
I had been dreaming about him for years now. Always the same impossible male. Always watching me from somewhere beyond the veil of reality itself. Sometimes I saw him reflected in polished temple glass. Sometimes I heard his voice inside dreams that left me shaking when I woke.
And sometimes—on the worst nights—I swore I could feel him reaching for me.
“Prime Naeris.”
The command cracked sharply through the chamber. Every initiate immediately lowered their heads. The Prime Seeress stood atop the Ascension dais, surrounded by drifting, ancient light. To some, it was terrifying. To me, it only brought revulsion, which intensified as her white eyes fixed directly on me. “You will enter the Circle.”
A strange hush spread instantly through the chamber. That wasn’t normal. Prime Luminae rarely participated in public visions. Something tightened uneasily in my chest. I stepped forward anyway. The crystalline floor hummed beneath my bare feet as I crossed the chamber toward the central dais. Hundreds of eyes followed me. Watching. Measuring. Waiting.
The Prime Seeress extended one pale hand toward the glowing Circle at the center of the platform. “Kneel.”
I obeyed slowly. The moment my knees touched the crystal, power surged upward through my body violently enough to steal my breath. The chamber vanished. Light exploded around me. And suddenly, he was there.
Closer than ever before. Kneeling directly in front of me. Beautiful. Terrible. Real. His large hand slid gently against my throat, not hurting, only holding. His thumb brushed beneath my jaw while those burning eyes locked onto mine with devastating intensity.
Mine.
The word echoed through my entire body. Not spoken aloud, but I felt it. Just like I felt his claim. Something inside me answered the claim before I could stop it.
The male smiled slowly. Then he spoke my name. “Naeris.”
The sound of my name in his voice shattered something inside me. Like he had said it a thousand times before. Like he knew every hidden part of me already. The vision around us pulsed strangely, darkness and starlight folded together in endless waves beyond where he knelt before me. Heat radiated from him in terrifying, intoxicating currents. Too real. Far too real. My pulse stumbled hard as his gaze lowered slowly to my mouth.
“What are you?” I whispered.
The male’s expression shifted with pain. A deep, ancient grief flashed across his face so suddenly it made my chest ache in response. Then something dark moved behind him. The stars around us flickered violently.
A whisper slithered through the vision.Mine.
Not his voice. Something else. Something vast and hungry. Old and all-consuming. I felt its menace and went rigid. Automatically, my body went into fight mode. The golden man’s entire body froze instantly. Rage exploded across his face with terrifying force as he turned sharply toward the darkness behindhim. The vision trembled violently. Cracks spread through the stars themselves.
Run.
The command slammed into me directly through something that I couldn't explain. Something that bound us. Him and me. My breath caught. The man lunged suddenly, grabbing my face between both hands hard enough to shock me. Silver fire exploded around us. “Find me.”
Then the vision shattered. I tore back into reality with a violent gasp. The Ascension Chamber spun around me. Priests shouted. The crystal beneath my knees burned white-hot, while the Circle blazed brighter than I had ever seen.
