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“Useless!” Percy yanked the transport door open himself. Luca’s power surged out, uncontained, and for a moment everyone saw themselves reflected in his light—the darknessthey’d embraced, the honor they’d abandoned, the souls they’d once been.

The barrier itself seemed to respond, ancient magic swirling and crackling with increased intensity. Warning pulses of power sent tremors through the ground.

“Impossible,” Dominic Nightshade breathed, pressing closer to the barrier. Where his darkness touched the shimmering wall of power, shadows writhed. “A fated one…”

“Yes,” Percy said eagerly. “Look how he glows. He must be?—”

“Must be?” Dominic’s voice turned silky. “Such a claim requires… verification.” He gestured to one of his shadows. “Open it.”

Two Dark Haven mages stepped forward, pressing their hands against the barrier. Dark energy pulsed from their palms, creating a web of shadows that spread across the shimmering wall. Where their power touched, the ancient magic dimmed, creating a temporary passage.

Percy’s eyes widened. So this was how Dark Haven’s hunters crossed between territories. How Storm Gate’s traffickers stole their prey.

Dominic stepped through, his immense power making the weakened barrier crackle and spark in protest. Even diminished, the ancient magic tried to reject his presence, but Dominic merely smiled.

“Bring him to me,” Dominic commanded. “I’ll need to taste his blood to be certain.”

“But his light—” Percy gestured at Luca’s glowing form.

“Could be any number of things.” Dominic’s smile showed teeth. “Let me test his true nature myself.”

Clive scrambled out of the transport, falling to his knees. “No! The light—it’s trying to tell us something. This is wrong, we can’t?—”

“Silence!” Percy snarled, though Luca’s power made Percy’s hands tremble as he lifted the prince’s small form. Luca weighed nothing—a delicate doll wrapped in silk and starlight. The prince’s dark hair spilled over Percy’s arms like liquid shadow, a stark contrast to the ethereal glow pulsing beneath Luca’s skin. Each pulse sent waves of memory through Percy—honor, nobility, everything he’d lost—until he could barely stand it.

“Take him,” Percy gasped, nearly throwing Luca at Dominic. “Before his light—just take him!”

Dominic caught Luca with predatory grace, dark satisfaction curling through the vampire lord as he cradled the prince against his chest. The little Valentine prince—the one that got away that bloody night when Dominic had slaughtered Luca’s pathetic clan. The boy had grown even more exquisite than Dominic had imagined, all delicate features and translucent skin that seemed to capture starlight itself.

“My, my,” Dominic murmured, one finger tracing the curve of Luca’s cheek with possessive wonder. “How you’ve bloomed, little Luca. I was furious when Alexander Whitlock snatched you away.” Dominic’s lips curved into a cruel smile as he adjusted the prince in his arms, savoring the weight of his prize. “All those hunters I sent, all those assassins… and those wolves kept you locked away in their tower like a precious jewel.”

Luca’s light pulsed, making Dominic’s darkness hiss and recoil. But the vampire lord held tighter, eyes gleaming with triumph as he studied the power radiating from Luca’s small form. Just one bite, one taste of the prince’s blood, and Dominic would know if the ancient texts were true. If this fragile creature truly held the power to reshape their world.

“But now I understand why you had to survive.” Dominic’s voice dropped to a reverent whisper. “The ancient scrolls spoke of this—a being of pure light, a fated one whose power could reshape the very fabric of our world.” The vampire lord laughedsoftly, adjusting his grip so Luca’s head lolled back, exposing the delicate line of the prince’s throat. “And here you are, delivered right into my hands. The power I’ve sought for centuries…”

The barrier trembled, ancient magic responding to Luca’s increasingly desperate pulses of light. But Dominic paid it no mind as he lowered his head, fangs extending with eager anticipation. One bite, and all that power would be his to verify, to taste, to claim…

“Your power will be mine, little Valentine. The power your parents died protecting, never knowing what you truly were?—”

A howl shattered the night—deep, primal, and filled with such rage that even Dominic’s darkness recoiled. The vampire lord’s head snapped up, ancient instincts screaming danger as two more howls joined the first. The sound shook the very earth, carrying promises of vengeance that made his bones ache.

Dominic could feel them coming—three alpha powers moving like a storm front, their combined strength making the air crackle with ozone and frost. Behind them, the unmistakable weight of elder magic pressed against his senses. The council was coming too.

Luca’s light flared brilliantly in Dominic’s arms, reaching, calling to the prince’s protectors. Luca’s power sang through his blood, trying to make Dominic kneel, to submit, to serve. The vampire lord needed Luca’s power—needed just one taste before they arrived—if he had any hope of surviving what was coming.

“No!” Dominic snarled, tightening his grip on Luca’s small form until his fingers left bruises on the prince’s glowing skin. “You’re mine now!” He struck like a snake, fangs extending to their full length as he dove for Luca’s throat?—

Luca’s eyes snapped open, blazing with pure starlight. Not lavender now, but white-hot radiance that seared Dominic’s retinas.

Power exploded outward like a supernova—pure, blinding light that shattered Dominic’s hold and sent everyone flying backward. Vampires, mages, even the traitorous Percy and his friends were thrown through the air like leaves in a hurricane. Their screams cut off as Luca’s light overwhelmed them, forcing ancient beings to their knees, making darkness itself retreat.

Through the chaos, three massive wolves charged—Zane’s silver-white form wreathed in celestial frost that turned the air to crystal, Ryker’s dark-blond fur crackling with storm energy that called lightning from clear skies, and Archer’s gold-blond coat shimmering with solar light that rivaled the dawn. They leaped for Luca, their alpha power blazing around them like falling stars, their combined strength making reality itself bend.

But even their tremendous power couldn’t match Luca’s awakening. The prince’s light caught them mid-leap, turning their fierce howls of rage into startled yelps as they were thrown back. Their powers scattered—midnight frost, lightning strikes, and golden sunlight—like fireworks as Luca’s blast overwhelmed their defenses. The very air crystallized, then shattered, charged with more power than it could contain.

The barrier itself screamed, ancient magic resonating with Luca’s power until the obsidian pillars trembled. Energy crackled wildly as light and shadow clashed, creating aurora-like patterns across the night sky. The barrier’s magic reached for Luca, recognizing something older than its own ancient power.

Luca’s unconscious form rose from the ground, floating higher and higher until he hovered in the epicenter of the maelstrom. The prince’s nightshirt and hair floated around him like dark silk in water, framing a body that seemed too fragile to contain such power. Luca’s skin glowed with otherworldly radiance, no longer just reflecting light but generating it from within. Power continued to pulse from the prince in waves, eachsurge stronger than the last, until Luca blazed like a fallen star, too bright to look at directly.