Her gaze locked on the base of Kailorien’s neck. The rune there—twisting, pulsing, ravenous—shone with a sick red light as itdevouredthe mana of the women around him. Not drank,devoured, with nothing left behind but silence and empty eyes.
The sound of the Companion’s pleasure warped—too loud, too sharp, no longer euphoric but discordant. Echoing.
This wasn’t Kailorien.
Not her Kail.
This was enslavement.
Purposeful.
Ritual.
A way to feed the monster.
Auryn’s body burned. Not with humiliation—not anymore—but with a fury so bright her veins might as well have bled gold.
This wasn’t him.
It hadneverbeen him.
Every time he’d come back from the Estâr empty-eyed, every time he’d flinched at her touch afterward, every time he’d looked away without explaining why—
She understood now.
He wasbeing devoured too.
From the inside out.
And the Council called this sacred?
Sacred?
No.
It was desecration. Of him. Ofthem.
She straightened, breathing hard.
A hand touched her arm.
Cool. Delicate. Controlled.
Shu’Khan.
The moment his skin touched hers, something sparked. Like a flash of magic unbidden. As though she’d seared him.
Shu’Khan jerked away, his eyes growing wide. His mouth parted in a silent gasp. Not pain. Not surprise.Euphoria.Sweet, discordant agony. It melted through his bones —lifewater reviving rotten flesh one piece at a time. Mana giving life to dead roots and branches that had dried up centuries ago.
Her fire ripped through him. Flames of passion, love, grief, fury.
The emotions poured into his core—raw, unfiltered—and they cracked the husk he’d been trapped in for so long.
She turned her head to meet his gaze.
A primal power burned in her eyes now.
Not fear.
