Page 56 of Gua rdian of Blood and Shadow

At the center of the chamber, a circular altar rose from the ground, ancient and worn smooth by centuries of use. Symbols that tickled the edges of understanding had been carved into its surface, their shapes softened by time but still potent with old power. Half-melted black candles ringed the perimeter, their flames unnaturally still in the heavy air. Veris lounged in a massive throne off to one side of the chamber, the seat appearing carved from the bedrock itself.

“You feel it, don’t you?” Gavin murmured beside me, his silver eyes tracking the subtle movements of that sickly light through the walls. “The wrongness.”

I nodded, fighting the urge to wrap my arms around myself. The shadows in the corners stirred occasionally, as if responding to unheard commands. Everything about this place whispered of violation. This was a sacred space corrupted by profane intention.

“This was once a holy site,” Javier explained softly, his voice barely audible. “The first shifters performed their transformation rituals here, drinking in the sun’s power.” His lip curled in distaste. “Veris had the whole thing disassembled and transported here.”

I opened my mouth to ask more, but the heavy doors at the far end of the chamber groaned open, cutting me off.

A line of queens shuffled into the chamber, hands covered in what looked like leather oven mitts, wrists shackled, and mouths gagged, their weakness palpable in the staggered rhythm of their steps. My chest tightened at the sight of these women who had endured darkness and degradation while I’d built a life in the human world, oblivious to their suffering. Their skin was ashen, their hair dull and lifeless, but their eyes burned with an ancient dignity that decades of imprisonment couldn’t extinguish.

I counted six of them, each supported by a pair of shifter guards who handled them with the careful precision one might use for volatile substances rather than living beings. The fear in the guards’ movements would have been almost comical if it hadn’t highlighted just how dangerous even half-starved vampire queens could be, though they couldn’t do much of anything without their hands or mouths.

One queen in particular caught my attention—her frail body barely able to hold itself upright, yet her eyes gleamed with startling clarity when they met mine. Laelia, I recalled from Javier’s descriptions. The oldest among the captives.

“As promised,” Veris said, gesturing toward the queens with that familiar, calculated smugness. “This is half of the queens. The rest are being prepared.”

Javier stood at my other side, his body strumming with tension, his eyes tracking every movement in the room. I felt his struggle through our bond, the battle between his need to protect me and his duty to the other queens, whom he’d spent two decades of his life keeping alive.

I reached for his hand, curling my fingers around his palm. “You should go with them,” I said softly. “Make sure they get home.”

His eyes widened, disbelief crashing through our bond. We had agreed that I would never ask him to leave me again, and now I was suggesting he do exactly that.

“Luna…” My birth name on his lips felt like both plea and prayer.

“I need someone I trust to get them safely back to the Moon Sanctuary,” I continued, meeting his gaze despite the tremor in my voice. “And Gavin’s not in any state to protect them. It has to be you.”

He grasped my hand with sudden fierceness. “I don’t want to leave you,” he said, his voice rough with emotion. “When we were reunited—”

“I know.” I pressed my palm against his cheek, the crescent sigil warm beneath my touch. “But this is what I need from you now. They need a protector who understands what they’ve survived. Who can lead them home.”

Something shifted in Javier’s expression, grief giving way to understanding, then to reluctant acceptance. He lifted my hand to his lips, turning it over to press a kiss against my palm. “I will return for you,” he said, his voice vibrating with centuries of careful promise. “As soon as I’ve delivered the queens. I will return.”

The certainty in his voice made my eyes burn with unshed tears. This man who had rescued me as a terrified child, who had taught me to survive, who had endured captivity rather than reveal my location—he was trusting me to face this curse-breaking ritual alone.

“I know you will,” I whispered, fighting back tears.

We stood there for one heartbeat, then another, our hands linked as moonlight danced between us. So many words caught in my throat, but none seemed adequate for this moment.

Finally, he nodded, decision made. He stepped back, his fingers lingering against mine until distance forced our separation. As he moved toward the waiting queens, his posture shifted, centuries of guardian training asserting itself. He positioned himself at the optimal vantage point, his predatory stillness a stark contrast to the queens’ weakened movements.

Laelia watched our exchange with ancient understanding in her eyes, her frail form straightening as my Prime Consort joined their ranks.

When he reached them, he didn’t look back, a mercy I hadn’t expected but desperately needed. If hehadturned, if I had seen the struggle in his eyes one more time, my resolve might have crumbled.

The ceremonial chamber fell quiet as the queens filed out.

Gavin shifted closer, until his shoulder touched mine, a gentle reassurance.

Veris clapped his hands with theatrical flare. “Your attention, please,” he announced, his voice echoing through the chamber. “Our final guest has arrived.”

The hair on the back of my neck rose as a familiar figure strode through the arched doorway—tall and elegant, his long black hair pulled back to reveal sharp features. Reiji’s dark eyes met mine across the chamber, and the calculation in his expression made my blood run cold.

“I apologize for my tardiness, Your Majesty,” he said with formality. He bowed deeply to Veris, and when he straightened, his eyes found mine. “I got held up.”

Veris’s smile widened. “No matter. You’ve arrived just in time.”

Dread clenched my gut as I watched Reiji move to Veris’s side.

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