Chapter 25 · The Blood Bond Breaks

"Get your head out of the clouds, Mara! The floor is literally dissolving!"

Lucan’s voice cracked through the roar of the collapsing core. He didn't just shout it—he lunged, grabbing my shoulder and wrenching me backward just as a slab of obsidian plating vanished into a void of white noise. I hit the ground hard, the air rushing out of my lungs in a pathetic wheeze.

"I had it!" I snapped, scrambling to my feet. My boots skidded on the shimmering surface. "I almost had the seal!"

"Almost doesn't keep us from becoming magic dust," Lucan spat. He was shaking. Not from fear—I knew him too well by now—but from the curse. Black veins were pulsing up his neck, tracing jagged lines toward his jaw like ink spilled under the skin. He looked like he was being eaten alive from the inside out.

I reached for his wrist, my fingers brushing the cold metal of the blood-bond cuff. The moment I touched him, it didn't feel like a contract anymore. It felt like a scream. A raw, jagged surge of emotion slammed into me, knocking the breath back out of my chest.

It wasn't power.