Page 75 of The Panther's Price

Evryn screamed, not a sound of fear, but of somethingancient,something that cracked bone and soul in one breath. The moment he hit the stone, her shadow snapped, recoiling inward like it had been severed from its source.

He wasn’t breathing.

No.

She was moving before she knew it. Her hands hit the floor beside him, fingers trembling, bloody. His eyes were still open, but unseeing. His mouth slack.

“Lucien,” she whispered. “No. Don’t you dare.”

Queen Selyne stood behind them, blade dripping shadowlight, her smile hollow and gleaming.

“You chose weakness,” she hissed. “And this is what it earns you.”

Evryn didn’t hear her.

There wasonlyhim.

And the sound—no, thefeeling—of something old waking in her chest. Her fingers pressed to his chest, slick with blood, warm and thick andwrong.

“No,” she said again, louder now.

Something inside her cracked.

And poweranswered.

She didn’t know the words, but she didn’t need to.

They rose from her throat like memory, like instinct.

A low chant in a forgotten tongue, her voice laced with the shadows of queens long buried.

Blood to breath. Soul to shadow. Mine to yours. Return.

The runes carved into the throne room floor lit from beneath, one by one, crawling outward in a spiral that met beneath Lucien’s body.

Selyne stepped forward. “What are you doing?—”

But Evryn didn’t stop. Shegave.

Blood pooled beneath her hands. Her own—cut clean from her palm, mixing with his.

And as her chant rose, the Veilsplit.

The air thickened with energy so old it burned to breathe.

Lucien’s body arched. His eyes flew open. And for one suspended second, he looked right at her—like he rememberedeverything.

Then light burst from their joined hands, and both of them gasped.

They were bound. Not just by magic. Not just by touch. Bysoul.

He sat up fast, choking on his first breath back. His hand flew to hers. Their shadows braided together like roots, like lovers.

“What—Evryn—what did you do?” he rasped.

She smiled, tears tracking through ash on her cheeks. “I didn’t let you go.”

Selyne shrieked.

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