The Taste of Divine Flesh
The first Luminarch died screaming.
Eira barely remembered moving—one moment she stood frozen, the next her fingers were buried in the golden armor, the Hollow Crown's power ripping through the creature like a starving beast. Light flooded her mouth, thick as honey and twice as sweet.
"More," the crown sighed.
She turned, her vision tinged in black and gold, and found Kaelan staring at her with a blade still raised. His chest heaved, his shadows flickering weakly at his wrists—but his eyes…
Gods, his eyes.
Wide. Horrified. Awed.
Eira wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, her voice not entirely her own. "You're staring, Dain."
He didn't flinch. "You're *eating* them."
The remaining Luminarchs hesitated, their blank masks reflecting her now-glowing veins.
Nyx giggled from somewhere in the chaos. "Told you she was hungry."
---
The Kiss in the Ashes
They fought back-to-back, Eira's light and Kaelan's shadows weaving together in a lethal dance. Every Luminarch that fell fed the crown's power, and with each burst of stolen energy, Eira felt herself slipping further away—replaced by something colder.
Something hungry.
Until Kaelan grabbed her between waves of enemies, his grip bruising as he shoved her against a crumbling pillar.
"Look at me," he demanded, his breath ragged.
She bared her teeth. "I am."
"No." His thumb brushed her lower lip, smearing golden blood. "Look at me, Eira. Not the crown. Not the monster. Me."
And then—
Then he kissed her.
Not gentle. Not sweet. A clash of teeth and desperation, his shadows curling around her wrists like shackles and salvation all at once.
For one heartbeat, the crown's voice went silent.
Eira's fingers tangled in his hair, pulling him closer—
—before a Luminarch's blade grazed Kaelan's shoulder, snapping them apart.
He grinned, wiping blood from his mouth. "Welcome back."
---
The Price of Power
The battle ended with a pile of gilded corpses and Nyx humming as she skipped through the wreckage.
"You two are fun," she declared, poking a dead Luminarch with her toe. "But the fun's over. She's coming."
Eira's head snapped up. "Who?"
Nyx's smile turned razor-sharp. "The queen, of course. Your mother."
The crown hissed in agreement.
Kaelan's hand found Eira's, his voice low. "We run. Now."
But the ground trembled before she could answer.
Not from rifts.
From footsteps.
---
The Queen's Arrival
She emerged from the tree line like a storm given flesh—tall, crowned in jagged starlight, her gown sewn from the skins of Forgotten.
Her eyes locked onto Eira.
"There you are," the Celestial Queen crooned. "My perfect little weapon."
Eira's blood turned to ice.
Because the queen didn't look like her ancestor.
She looked like Eira.
Older. Colder. But undeniably her.
The crown screamed:
"LIAR. THIEF. *MOTHER*."
And then the queen smiled—
—with Eira's exact same teeth.
---
### Cliffhanger Ending: The Bloodline Curse
Kaelan yanked Eira backward as the queen raised a hand.
"Don't look at her eyes!" he barked.
Too late.
The world *twisted*, the forest dissolving into a memory that wasn't hers—
A nursery. A needle. A baby's scream.
Hers.
The queen's voice slithered through the vision:
"You were born to devour gods, daughter. Starting with the one holding your hand."
Eira's gaze snapped to Kaelan—
—just as the crown's spikes lengthened toward his throat.
---
Teaser for Chapter Fourteen: The Throne of Teeth
The queen wants Eira to kill Kaelan.
The crown is all too willing.
And the only one who can stop it?
The girl who's spent her whole life running—from her past, her power, and the man she might just love.