The words hung in the air like poison.
"Then let's begin it," Rowan said—yet the voice that echoed from him was layered, ancient, wrong.
A gust of wind swept through the temple ruins, rattling the bones of the fallen guardians. The Shard of Midnight still pulsed in Aria's hand, casting silvery threads of shadow-light across the cracked floor. Caleb, who'd only just risen to his feet after being seized by Rowan in Chapter 118, moved between Aria and her former mate, his jaw clenched, his aura bristling with protective rage.
"Rowan," Aria breathed. But she wasn't speaking to the vessel. She was speaking to the man she loved—the one buried beneath the godlike rot infesting him.
Rowan's lips twitched in something that almost resembled a smile. "He can hear you. He just can't stop me now."
Elena's eyes shimmered with fear and fury. "Then we'll tear you out piece by piece, Forgotten One."
"No," Solene said softly, her voice thick with dread. "That's exactly what it wants."
