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There were other bonds of course, the most common of which was the Astral Adversary bond when the stars chose two enemies to clash again and again until one of them came out victorious by securing their bonded’s death.

The final bond was that of Nebular Allies, a tie of companionship and allegiance that ensured our ranks were strong for battle, that we would look out for one another above all else.

I believed Harlon was my Nebular Ally, but there were few ways to know for sure.

There was no mark that came with it, nor the Astral Adversary bond.

They were no more than a feeling placed there by the stars, a tether that could not be denied.

I continued reading, a deeper hatred growing in me against the Vampires who had destroyed most of my kind, forcing us to the brink of extinction.

We were so uncommon now that we were hardly recognised, but at least I was finally getting the answers I’d been searching for.

At last, I found a section on my Order gifts and I drank in the information with a keen desperation, sure I was about to discover the key to that mysterious power I possessed.

The Aquina Leopards can swim for many miles without growing tired and are capable of holding their breath underwater for up to an hour.

The Leopard’s spots contain bioluminescent magic that can be ignited to emit a turquoise glow, and it is thought this glow could create a reasonably effective shield against magical attacks.

They are adept at climbing, their claws are fit for battle, their fur is water resistant and provides great protection from the cold.

Celestial events pertaining to the water constellations are thought to affect them more deeply than other Fae due to their affinity with the ocean, which is why it is of no surprise that they recharge their magic by bathing in water.

I turned the page, needing to read more, but found only another Order staring back at me.

“No, wait,” I hissed, reading over the page again. “There must be more than that. What about this power that can dissolve magic?”

I scraped through every piece of information again, but that was it. My Order was glaringly normal. Rare, yes. But hardly special. I was devastatingly average.

To add another stab of frustration to the revelation, a footnote in Vesper’s hand read. No additional threat needs noting from this Order form or its attached gifts.

What a bitch. Why had I just been thinking she was honest and real – she was just a tool for desire with sex magic. Who wanted sex magic as a gift? What has she even done with it in a battle? Shake her ass to distract her enemies to death? That wasn’t impressive either. Fuck her.

Disappointment settled inside me, followed by confusion. If the power I possessed wasn’t a part of my Order, then what the hell was it?

The word Void echoed in my head and a knot of dread resounded inside me.

Could it be possible that Kaiser had seen the truth of me and I’d been ignorant all along? But it didn’t make sense. If I was the Void, then what did that make the monster underneath the Keep? The Reapers had named it themselves, and they knew far more of these matters than I did.

They had connections with the stars, they had Seers who could see the future. If Kaiser had experienced the horrors of that thing for himself, he wouldn’t have made the foolish mistake of naming me the Void. But then…where did that leave me? What did it make me?

A crash sounded and I glanced up in alarm, my hand raising defensively, but I only found Calcifiend beside a broken jar, eating what looked like dried worms off the carpet.

“Nice.” I got up and left him to his meal, taking in the rows of other jars on the shelves that contained plenty of weird shit. I guessed they were potion ingredients, likely useful in dark magic and none of them were what I was here for, so I started hunting through drawers instead.

I quickly discovered Vesper had been one wealthy bitch, from the fine armour she owned to the silk undergarments and braziers that must have been custom made.

When I discovered her weapons, I got lost in assessing their quality, examining each one and eyeing the craftmanship.

They were well made, there was no denying it.

But only one of them caused me to pause.

A spear with the emblem of the Stormfell royals engraved on the hilt among a cluster of diamonds.

At first, the blade looked to be forged of steel, but it was the glimmer to it that made me realise what it truly was.

Nearly a century ago, the Cascadians had stumbled across a mine full of ore that could create a metal so sharp, it could cut through bone with little more than a featherlight touch.

They called it Casca, and the mine’s location was kept secret while they drew the ore from the ground.

But a spy from Stormfell discovered the truth and the land of Air sent an army to retrieve it.

They stole the mine from Cascada, ripping it into the sky and killing all who were left in its pits.

This was the product of that bloody day.

I shoved the spear back onto its rack, turning my back on it. I didn’t want a tainted weapon like that with the blood of my people still deep in its core.

My gaze caught on a strange metal pole carved with runes propped up against the wall by the window I’d entered through. With a jolt, I realised it was Vesper’s windrider, the thing abandoned here, cursed to never fly again.

I walked over to it, kneeling down to examine the runes engraved on its surface. The craftswoman in me marvelled at the intricacy of the design. Ideas sparked in my mind at what I could do with magic like this. Imagine the weapons I could make...

I traced my fingers over one of the runes and a whir sounded as it sprang to life.

I wasn’t quick enough to jump aside as it flew up two feet then spun around in fast circle, whacking me in the head.

I staggered backwards with a curse and the damned thing dropped abruptly and sped between my legs.

I tried to leap away, but it flew up again, ramming into my fucking vagina and making me cry out as it carried me toward the ceiling.

I clung onto it with a gasp and something about the way I touched it sent it flying forward instead of upward, the end of it smashing into the bed and shattering one of the posts.

I held on for dear life as it crashed into a cabinet next, sending all kinds of bottles spilling out of it onto the floor. It flew toward the jars of potions and Calcifiend let out a shriek of alarm as I went zooming over his head.

“Kaské!” I cried, leaping off the thing as it went speeding toward a wall.

It slammed into the bricks as my knees hit the floor, then ricocheted back into a painting of Ironwraith, sending glass and chunks of gold frame tumbling everywhere.

It went flying toward the open window, destined to sail off into the sky and I threw out a hand to freeze the damn thing before it alerted every Skyforger in this Vault to my presence.

The ice stopped it in its tracks and it fell like a dead weight to the floor with a loud bang.

“Okay, that was the most unsubtle I’ve ever been,” I hissed and Calcifiend trilled his agreement.

A shadow in the window made me fly to my feet and I came eye to eye with North Brimtheon, his lips parting at the sight of me.

“ Raincarver ,” he spat, then leapt at me, shifting mid jump into an enormous grey Wolf with white splashes across its body.

I shifted into my Leopard form at the last second, narrowly avoiding the swipe of his paws and springing onto the shattered bed with a bolt of adrenaline in my blood. He lunged after me with a snarl and I swiped my claws across his shoulder, leaping away again as he snapped at my swishing tail.

I sprang up the wall, using the gaps in the bricks to assist me before I propelled myself off of it and landed on his back, digging my claws in deep and making him yelp like a pup.

He rolled to throw me off, crushing me beneath his bulk and Calcifiend flew at his ear, biting it savagely and making him howl.

I tried to scramble out from beneath North, but his paws slammed down heavily either side of me, caging me in as his snarling jaws lunged for my head, ready to crush my skull between his teeth.

“Stop!” Kaiser’s voice ripped through the air and North hesitated, turning to look over his shoulder. “Shift. Now.”

Kaiser’s possession claimed me with those words and perhaps he had possessed North too because his Wolf form dissolved at the same moment as my Leopard did, leaving his naked body crushing mine into the rug.

“Get the fuck off of me!” I screamed, casting a blast of ice at his head but he burned it away with a flame at the last minute.

I could feel his cock on my thigh and the thick muscles of his chest against my tits, and I was horrified at the heat of his flesh against my own.

“Hav yos jassick, lasito-trined kyde tross o min!” I spat.

“Oooh what did she say, Kai?” North asked keenly.

“She said to get your ashy, soot-filled cock off of her,” Kaiser deadpanned.

“My cock is a regal masterpiece, I’ll have you know,” North tossed at me.

“I’ll be sure to mount it on my wall when I cut it off then,” I growled.

He let out a bark of laughter. “Can you taste her fear, Kai?” he asked, his bright green eyes gleaming from the fight despite the bloody gashes I’d left on him.

“I’ll hurt her good so you can recharge your power.

” North’s hands closed around my throat and I grabbed a dagger from the floor that had been knocked off of its perch by Vesper’s windrider, swinging it around to stick in his kidney.

North was hauled off of me before I could drive it into him, his hands leaving my neck as Kaiser hurled him into the nearest wall.

“What the fuck?” North snapped, his chest heaving and teeth bared in a Wolf’s rage.

“Do not hurt her,” Kaiser said, deathly calm. “Her fear is mine to claim, not yours.”