💥 Chapter Ten: The Mating Ritual and the Redirection.
The front door burst open. Kael stood there, his face set in grim determination, his gun drawn, though he clearly preferred his claws.
"Ember, now! We don't have time! The Shadow Cult is here for you!"
He saw the dress down around my waist, the blood on my finger, and the frantic desperation in my eyes.
"What did you do?" he roared, grabbing my arm.
"I activated the mechanism!" I gasped, pulling the velvet dress back up, hiding the rune. "I didn't want to kill Elias! We have to complete the bond, Kael. Now! But you have to channel the kill-energy to the external threat!"
"Channel? I don't know how to channel a magical weapon I didn't know existed!"
"The rune!" I cried, pointing at my back. "The Thorn is active! Focus your Alpha command into the rune, not the bond! Use the kill-energy against the Cult! Do it, Kael!"
