Page 88

I approached the artifact, reached out, and let my fingertips graze the warm metal.

Energy jolted up my arm with an intensity that was almost too much.

But I felt something else too: a link that reached from the Heirloom into me, and from me directly into Arabella.

Our bond roared back to full strength, an intimate exchange of power and breath.

I turned to find her staring at me, eyes still brimming with confusion and maybe unspoken fear. “Can you feel it?” I asked, voice low with barely contained excitement. “The ley lines. They’re right there. We’re standing in the center of a living map.”

She swallowed, nodding slowly. “I can. It’s almost… too big.”

“Too big?” A hungry laugh burst from me.

“It’s magnificent!” Impulsively, I grabbed her waist, spun her around, only putting her down when she gasped.

“We can do anything. Reroute the magic running beneath entire kingdoms, cut off water supplies, starve armies. The Syndicate can’t touch us now.

And Solandris… you know what we’re capable of. ”

She went still at my words. Something fluttered across her expression. “And the Shadow King?” she asked softly. “My father thought?—”

“Legends,” I scoffed quickly, an involuntary chill crawling under my skin.

She hadn’t said one word about her father since leaving him in the dungeons.

And now she was asking about his ramblings.

“But if some ancient force is lurking, we’ll handle it the same way we handle everyone else who tries to stand against us. We own the Heirloom now.”

She kept looking at me. I couldn’t place the emotion in her gaze.

Not quite trust, not quite mistrust, but a wary acknowledgement of something she wasn’t ready to say.

I hated the uncertainty there. I wanted the entire world to quake at our approach, and here she was, giving me reservations I didn’t want.

“Cheer up,” I told her, even as a flicker of restlessness warred inside my chest. “This is a victory. It calls for celebration, not… this.” I waved a hand at her solemn face.

She pressed her lips together, evidently deciding not to push the topic. “Fine.” She exhaled shakily and placed her hand over mine on the circlet. Energy leaped from her touch. “At least we did it. The Heirloom’s ours.”

Yes, I thought, ours. But what had happened to me in that vision? Why couldn’t I remember important parts? My mind refused to latch onto the details, swirling them away like leaves in a storm. I swallowed my frustration. The only thing that mattered was the artifact’s new stability.

Arabella guided me to sense the ley lines. Luminous webs crossed the dark beneath our feet, miles below the fortress. She and I held a single vantage now, a vantage of unstoppable dominion. The entire Western Realms spread out before us, waiting to be claimed.

“It works,” I murmured, letting the raw triumph coat my words.

Her hand slipped away from the Heirloom and went around my waist instead. “Of course it does,” she said, subdued but resolute. “We make a dangerous team.”

I flashed her a grin that felt a tad sharper than usual.

“Dangerous indeed.” I tugged her closer, drawn by the need to taste that soft mouth and bury any lingering whispers of that ominous presence.

For a split second, I saw our merged shadows flicker on the wall behind us.

The shape seemed too large, bat-like wings unfurling before collapsing into a normal silhouette. I blinked, and it was gone.

Arabella caught my tension and slid a hand up my chest, probably to distract me.

Her lips brushed mine, dissolving my doubts in a surge of heat.

I let myself fall into it, ignoring the tingling dread at the base of my skull.

We had power, we had each other, and unstoppable dominion was ours to command.

Whatever nightmares lurked, I’d face them on my own terms.

Pulling back, she breathed, “We should tell the others. And then we’ll tighten security around the tower, keep the Heirloom hidden. The Syndicate will sense this surge.”

I released her, my pulse still hammering. “Yes. Let’s not pretend they’ll be thrilled to see us with an artifact powerful enough to warp the entire map. More wards, more guards… and if they come looking for trouble, they’ll find it.”

A flash of her usual defiance lit her face. “For now, let’s share the good news with Vex, Griffin, and Thorne. And figure out how to keep the Heirloom stable if we push it further.”

No mention of the Shadow King again. I was more than content to let the subject remain buried. With renewed confidence, I offered her my arm.

She accepted, sliding in close. That steady hum of energy rolled through my bones, echoed by the warmth of her body against mine.

One unbelievably powerful relic, one unstoppable union, one conquest at a time.

Whatever had happened in that vision was secondary.

We’d risen from the rubble before; we’d do it again and again.

I led Arabella out, the glow of the Heirloom pulsing behind us. Let the rest of the world brace itself. We had unstoppable chaos to unleash.

But as we walked through the damaged corridors of Skyspire, I shoved aside the nagging certainty that I was forgetting something vital.