Page 1 of Claimed By Night

PROLOGUE

The Oath of Devotion

As there is light, there must also be dark. As there is life, there must also be death. As there is the mortal world, there must also be the realm of light and shadow…

In the beginning, there was balance.

Then, with the coming of theSingularity, light was nearly sacrificed by dark when a rift in the Shadow Realm resulted in darkness spilling into the mortal and fae worlds. Humans were completely wiped out until only the magical remained, and the balance of the natural order was left hanging precariously.

The Mortal, Fae, and Shadow Realms were the charge of the Midnight Queen. In order to set the equilibrium right, she chose four representatives—two from the Shadow Realm, and two from the realm of light.

These four soldiers pledged to maintain the balance between shadow and light by taking theOath of Devotion. Thus, they were bound to protect this delicate equilibrium by making a pact, through blood, and witnessed by none other than the Midnight Queen, herself.

The first to take the pledge was theKing of Shadows, a gargoyle.

The second was theKing of Light, an angel.

The third was theKing of Nature,an elf.

The fourth was theKing of Death, a vampire.

With the rise of the Midnight Queen’s Protectors, balance was achieved anew. But that stability was short-lived, as greed and envy upset the equilibrium once again…

CHAPTER ONE

EILISH

Mortal Realm

I shiver.

Drops fall from the sky, big ones that make it difficult to see the road.

I don’t know where I am. Or how I got here.

My stomach rumbles and nausea threatens to send bile up my throat—a throat which already feels strangely raw. It stings like I’ve been repeatedly vomiting.

A second wave of chills shoots through me, shaking me from head to toe, thrashing me forward and then back again. Heaving, I’m forced to bend over as my body does its best to eject the contents of my stomach… now just acid.

You have to run,a woman’s voice yells at me.

I glance around, but no one’s there.

Run, Eilish,the voice insists.

I don’t recognize the name but since the voice seems to be addressing me, I figure it must be mine.

Go, now, Eilish, run!The voice grows more insistent, panicking even.

I don’t know where it’s coming from, if someone I can’t see is talking to me or if the voice is just in my head. Or if I’m just imagining the whole thing.

“I can’t… run anymore,” I say out loud, panting with the exertion it takes to speak. My voice sounds strangely foreign—high pitched and terrified. Inhaling, I shake my head as I face the road ahead of me—asphalt that stretches for what seems like miles, with only the loneliness of a dark forest on either side to keep it company. And the occasional broken-down car, mostly reduced to a skeletal, rusted frame.

It’s coming,the voice warns.

I can hearit. Tree limbs snap behind me, accompanied by growling and the sound of something sniffing, catching my scent on the wind.

Move, Eilish!

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