Blackw
tion of a predator that has finally cornered its prey. *Now
le cocktail of despair, heartbreak, and a soul-deep lonelines
ed instantly. A choked sob escaped my lips. My knees buckled, and I sank to the floor, curling
busy dealing with his far more important political rival. He would hear the news and feel a flicker of something-not love, but relief. Relief
s was a submarine, running silent, running deep. This connection, this pipel
oing to fol
eature of instinct and emotion, incapable of understanding its complex na
chine. I moved through pathways of pure information, past s
re 'authentic,' Stellan Maris began to fe
at bound the Blackwood Alpha line to a repeating fate
as trapped in this cycle. Gideon hadn't died
ing the knife. *He should have lost. But an ally, using a forbidden arti
tion as Alpha, was built upon a foundation of lies and blood. S
it nearly burned through my disguise. It gave me more reason th
suddenly broke through a
gness, was a scroll. It was ancient, woven from what looked like moonlight and shadow, and it glowed
The source code. The
ushed against its surface, an a
roared, its voice filled with genuine shock and terror.
gle, desperate act. I forged a psychic link between my own mind and the scro
hic. It felt like my very soul was being ripped in
my eyes. I tasted salt and copper as a spray of blood burst from my lips, s
guards burst through the door, their
ler! The Lun
t thought echoed in the ruins of my mind. The p
was w
nd y
a primal fear. He touched her forehead, expecting the heat of madness, but found only a profound, unnatural cold, a
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