The chamber beneath the Blood Council tower had never felt this cold.
The ritual platform still glowed with a deep red light as the blood offered by the elders continued to move slowly through the ancient carvings. The runes pulsed steadily like a second heartbeat beneath the stone floor.
Every pulse widened the fracture in the vault door.
The crack had grown large enough now that darkness poured through it like thick mist.
But it was not mist.
It was movement.
Seven elders stood frozen around the platform.
None of them dared step closer.
The hand gripping the edge of the vault had not moved again, yet its presence filled the chamber like a silent threat.
The fingers were long and thin, the skin darker than the shadows around it.
Selene stood several steps away from the door now.
Her corrupted bloodline had reacted the moment the creature spoke.
The energy inside her twisted uneasily beneath her skin.
The creature had said two words.
Blood.
Queen.
