Page 25 of Gua rdian of Blood and Shadow

I witnessed his training, his endless preparation for a role he hadn’t asked for but had never questioned. His First Rite, when he became undead, and his Second Rite, when he ascended to guardian status, his amplified strength and power exceeding all predictions. The weight of expectation and disappointment crushed him as he watched other guardians find their queens and accept their bonds while he waited and trained, always training. A lifetime of purpose without fulfillment.

And then, the news he had awaited his entire existence. High Queen Diana had given birth to a girl, then another. His nervous excitement when his mother brought him to the Moon Sanctuary to meet Diana’s daughters, his uncertainty when he beheld a little girl and a baby and was asked if he felt a connection to either. To a child? To a baby? He felt passing affection, as anyone would toward children, but nothing more. “Wait until they’re older,” his mother told him. “When they come into their power, you’ll know.”

And then, the devastation. Coordinated attacks against queens all over the world, including the High Queen and her daughters. Including his mother. His past, his future, gone in a single moment that left him hollow and purposeless.

He fought back that night, clearing the Moon Sanctuary of all shifters, dealing with the horrific aftermath, and in all the nights that followed, he devoted himself to hunting down stray queens. To saving as many as possible to make amends for those he couldn’t protect. For the ones he had failed. For his mother. For Amaya. For me.

And then, the miracle he had stopped allowing himself to hope for—his queen was alive! His Luna. How difficult it had been for him to remain calm when he wanted to shout his joy to the heavens. How it had torn him apart to let me go while he remained behind in that cell, divided between the mission he had devoted himself to for decades and the queen he had given his life to serve.

Before I drew back into myself, I caught a glimpse of Gavin in his cell in the Sun Keep, huddled in the corner much as Javier had been when we found him. He looked up, his eyes glinting silver in the shadows, a flicker of recognition lighting his gaze.

“Sophie?” Gavin rasped, my name on his lips a prayer.

“I’m here,” I whispered, reaching for him across dimensions I didn’t understand. But just as my fingers brushed against his cheek, Gavin and his prison cell faded like the morning mist, leaving only the echo of his voice in my mind.

The crystal moon flared brighter, then dimmed to the darkness of a new moon. In the next heartbeat, power exploded out of my chest, making my back arch and my hair float around my head like I was under water. Sigils hovered around me, suspended by the cords binding me to my consorts.

I stared in wonder, tears chilling my cheeks as an otherworldly wind blew through the chamber. These were my consorts’ sigils, the marks they had left on my heart when we bonded.

As I saw not whatIhad created, but what my consorts and I had created together, I understood: a queen’s power–mypower–wasn’t just about what I could do to others, but what I would allow them to do to me. True strength lay in vulnerability, in the courage to let someone else in. In choosing when to fight and when to surrender.

“Incredible…” Isador moved around the outside of the ritual circle, closely scrutinizing each sigil. “Absolutely remarkable…”

My head pounded as the crystal moon’s light intensified once more, and the glowing sigils and bond cords faded away. My body suddenly felt icy—the same chill I’d felt after the vision of the Shadow King. I swayed, suddenly dizzy.

“Sophie!” Javier caught me before I hit the ground, cradling me against his chest.

Through half-closed eyes, I saw the others huddle in close around us. Wes hovered nearby, and Isador approached, finally crossing the ritual circle created by the crimson sigils.

“No, Javier,” Isador said. “No blood. She must find her way back from this on her own, or the pathways of magic won’t set right within her.”

Isador’s expression was guarded as she studied my face. “Your bonds are fully mature, a process that usually takes many years ofcommunionsbetween queen and consorts.” She bowed her head, her first true show of respect toward me. “The goddess touches you more strongly than I expected, my queen. This changes how we will proceed…when you’ve recovered.”

Exhaustion dragged at me like chains, pulling me into darkness. As consciousness slipped away, I felt a presence, vast and ancient. Watching. Waiting.

Whispering, “Soon…”

15

Iwoketoabodythat felt shattered despite the taste of ripe blackberries and the sunlit forest on my tongue. Bastian’s blood. He must have just given it to me for me to still feel like I’d been hit by a Mack truck.

Every muscle screamed, every bone ached, while memories flashed through my mind in fragments: my untrained magic wreaking havoc in the Selenarium, Bastian’s chaotic transformations, my consorts’ fears unleashed, their memories revealed, my surrender required.

I peeled my eyelids open to find I was in my new bedroom—my mom’s old bedroom. I tried to sit up, but the world tilted, and nausea turned my stomach.

“Careful, Soph.” Bastian’s voice reached me from the shadows. “You’ve been out for nearly a day. Isador wouldn’t let us give you blood until you started to wake on your own. We’ve been taking turns watching over you.”

I turned my head carefully and found him by the moon altar in front of the arched window, deliberately keeping his distance. Moonlight outlined his silhouette. The tattoos visible beyond the reach of his T-shirt seemed different—more substantial, with faint golden threads running beneath the black ink. His muscles were coiled tight, ready to flee.

“The others?” My voice came out rough.

“Nearby.” His jaw tightened. Through our bond, I felt him wrestling with shame and fear. “I can get one of them, if you prefer. I wouldn’t blame you, not after…everything.”

I remembered with sickening clarity what had happened, how I flubbed the ritual and had forced my consorts’ greatest fears upon them. I had stripped away Bastian’s control over his shifter powers, forcing his body to change into something monstrous. The pain through our bond had been excruciating, his consciousness fracturing.Idid that to him.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.

Bastian laughed without humor. “You’resorry? I nearly tore you apart. If Javier hadn’t tackled me…” His amber eyes finally found mine. “I didn’t know that was inside me, Soph. I still don’t know what it was, but it wasn’tme.”

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