{IRIS}
But awe did not solve the problem.
Two powerful vampires.
Arcane wielders.
And Caroline still bound, helpless, watching everything unfold with terror etched across her face.
The weight of the situation pressed down on like a suffocating shroud.
How in the hell were we supposed to escape this alive?
My dagger felt small in my hand.
But it was still mine.
And as long as I could stand—bloodied, breathless, unshifted—I would not stop fighting for my life.
The Shadow Guard did not speak.
It never did.
Yet its presence pressed outward like a held breath, heavy with threat.
The darkness around it deepened, swallowing torchlight whole, until the chamber felt smaller—compressed by opposing forces that were seconds away from tearing it apart.
Morgana’s eyes narrowed.
"Interesting," she murmured darkly. "So Sol has chosen to interfere." She bit her nail, eyes narrowing in frustration. "First Vladimir, now him. What madness is this? Have the powerful grown bored enough to start protecting the helpless? Or is this their latest amusent?"
Her blackened flas guttered out, curling back into her palms like reluctant serpents. The sll of scorched stone lingered in the air, acrid and suffocating.
She flexed her fingers once, as if testing the limits of her restraint.
Valerius, on the other hand, looked delighted.
"Well," he said, clapping slowly, the sound sharp and mocking, "this does make things more entertaining. I always wanted to fight that stoic face bloodsucker."
His gaze slid back to , lingering this ti—not on my weapon, not on the Shadow Guard—but on my face.
On the blood streaked across my cheek. On the tremor in my hand that I hadn’t quite managed to still.
"You’re full of surprises, little wolf," he added softly. "I always love the weak struggling with their life. I do hate predictable easy prey."
I shifted my stance, subtly placing myself between him and Caroline. My muscles scread in protest, fatigue clawing at my bones, but I forced my spine straight.
Caroline was still struggling to free herself, and I still needed to give her ti to escape those binds. We would worry about the arcane collar around her neck once we escape this hellhole.
"Enough," Morgana said. "This has dragged on long enough. Kill the wolf. Break the human. We leave."
The Shadow Guard shifted.
Not forward.
Sideways.
Its movent was subtle, placing itself at an angle that blocked both Morgana’s line of sight and Valerius’s approach.
Shadows stretched across the floor, coiling around broken pillars and fallen bodies, as if claiming the chamber inch by inch.
Valerius’s smile thinned.
"So," he mused, "Sol gave you more than a shield."
I didn’t answer.
Because I didn’t know.
I had no idea how much control I truly had over the thing standing beside . The deal I’d struck with Sol had been vague, desperate, sealed under circumstances that left no room for clarification.
Help, in return for a price I didn’t even know if I could pay.
Morgana raised her hand again—but this ti, the magic did not erupt imdiately. Instead, she traced a slow symbol in the air, black light bleeding from her fingertips. The symbols burned briefly before sinking into the stone beneath our feet.
The chamber shuddered.
I felt it before I saw it—the sudden, nauseating drop in temperature, the way the shadows seed to thicken, cling. The walls groaned, ancient runes flaring to life as the space itself responded to her will.
"Binding array," I muttered.
Valerius arched a brow. "Impressive. You recognize it."
"I’ve read enough of your kind’s tricks," I said through clenched teeth. I learned it from Lord Val and Sebastian’s teachings.
Morgana smiled thinly. "Then you know there will be no escape."
The sigils flared brighter.
Pain lanced through my skull as the arcane pressed inward, seeking to lock everything in place—matter, magic, movent.
The Shadow Guard stiffened beside , its form flickering as if caught between states.
No.
I gritted my teeth, forcing myself to think past the panic.
The necklace at my throat pulsed—once, twice—heat blooming against my skin. A low hum filled my ears, subtle but insistent, like a distant heartbeat.
I grabbed it without thinking.
The mont my fingers closed around the tal, the pressure eased.
Not vanished—but resisted.
The Shadow Guard surged forward, shadows ripping free of the binding array with violent force. The sigils cracked, splintering across the floor like shattered glass.
Morgana staggered back half a step.
Her eyes widened. "I didn’t know that puppet is this powerful . . ."
Valerius moved.
He was fast—faster than before—blurring across the distance between us in a blink.
I barely had ti to react, raising my dagger just as his hand closed around my wrist.
The impact jolted up my arm, numbing my fingers.
He twisted.
The dagger clattered to the floor.
"Careless," he murmured, leaning in close. I could sll him then—iron, smoke, sothing old and rotten beneath it all. His grip tightened. "You should never let your focus slip."
I slamd my forehead into his face.
He hissed, more surprised than hurt, releasing just long enough for to wrench free and stumble back.
Blood dripped from his nose, black and viscous as it hit the floor.
Valerius wiped it away slowly.
His eyes were no longer amused. It was all red and glowing.
"Oh," he said quietly. "Now you’ve angered ."
The air around him warped, arcane coiling tight as a drawn bowstring. He raised both hands this ti—and the thorns lunged forward.
The Shadow Guard intercepted him, blades of darkness forming where arms should be, striking with lethal precision.
Valerius t the attack head-on, arcane flaring as he parried shadow with raw power.
The clash shook the chamber.
I didn’t wait.
I sprinted for Caroline.
The mont I reached her, pain exploded across my back—heat, force, agony. I hit the floor hard, breath knocked from my lungs, vision swimming.
"Iris!" Caroline scread.
"Stop right there you mutt!" Morgana yelled.
I pushed myself up, teeth clenched against the pain, crawling the last distance to her. The chains burned under my touch, arcane flaring in protest.
"I need you to trust ," I gasped.
"I do," she sobbed imdiately.
I pressed the necklace against the chains.
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