The sky split open in fire and blood.

Zyra Valeris ran, her breath ragged as she stumbled over the uneven forest floor. Her heart pounded so violently that it drowned out the screams behind her—the dying wails of her village, set ablaze by unseen enemies.

She didn't look back.

Smoke thickened the air, searing her lungs, but she pushed forward. She had to keep moving. Had to survive.

Lightning cracked above, illuminating the carnage she was leaving behind. Flames swallowed the only home she had ever known, and in the flickering light, shadows moved. Not the kind cast by fire—but something alive.

Her stomach twisted. The Shadow King's men.

Everyone in the village had whispered the rumors. That Kieran Duskbane had eyes everywhere. That his darkness crept into places it should never reach. That once he marked a place for ruin, no one survived.

She hadn't believed them. Until now.

A chilling voice sliced through the roar of the fire.

"Run, little star. See how far you make it."

Zyra's pulse turned to ice. They were close.

Adrenaline surged through her veins as she forced her aching legs to move faster, crashing through the underbrush. But just as she reached the river's edge, something shifted in the air.

The ground trembled. The fire twisted.

And then—the shadows rose.

A massive tendril of darkness erupted from the ground, slamming into her chest and sending her flying backward. She hit the earth hard, pain lancing through her ribs. Dazed, she struggled to rise, but before she could, a figure emerged from the black mist.

A tall, broad-shouldered man cloaked in darkness. His presence was suffocating, a void in the world itself.

Zyra's breath caught in her throat.

Kieran Duskbane.

The Shadow King's icy blue eyes locked onto hers. A smirk curled at his lips—predatory, hungry.

"This is a shame," he murmured. "You would have made a spectacular chase."

The shadows surged toward her, wrapping around her limbs like chains. Zyra gasped as she fought against them, but the more she struggled, the tighter they held. She was trapped.

Kieran stepped closer, tilting his head. "A celestial hiding among mortals? That's bold." His gaze flicked over her, assessing, and then—suddenly, his smirk vanished.

His body stiffened.

A strange force cracked through the air, sending a shudder through her bones. A heat flared in her chest—not from the fire, but from something deeper.

Kieran's breathing turned ragged.

"No," he growled. His expression twisted with something between rage and disbelief. "Not you."

Zyra gasped as the heat in her chest ignited, tendrils of golden fire licking at her skin. A force yanked her toward him, invisible but undeniable.

And in that instant, she felt it.

A connection so deep, so unshakable, that it threatened to consume her.

Her vision blurred as a single truth slammed into her with the force of a falling star.

She and Kieran Duskbane were bound by fate.

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