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Arwan is probably his dealer.
He merely grins. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
Giving them both a fond farewell, I take the shadow crystal from my pocket and break it.
My world explodes inward, shredding me with glass shards that tear at my skin, but I’m used to how it feels now.
Nothing worth having is painless.
I’m back on the Deadlands in a flash. I no longer send the candidates running to the castle.
They run to the tower.
It was rebuilt after Arwan and I destroyed the first one. It’s now a place that holds all of the shadows I collect every year.
It’s stronger. And taller.
Terrifying, I think as I strain to look up at the massive thing that has thorns emerging from its sides, hanging all the bodies of the souls it houses within it.
It’s a container that is meant for healing, even as horrifying as it appears.
Monster Isle isn’t for the weak.
Godric, Arwan, and Ze’ev materialize on the coastline as I sink to one knee and drag my fingers through the grainy rocks.
I grin.
Arwan is positively lethal, with shadows enveloping his dark arm and blue motes sparking the air. His royal garb is parted over his chest with a tight belt that straps potions along his abdomen.
He doesn’t need potions, but they’re not filled with destruction tonics or anything sinister.
They’re healing vials for me.
Godric is in human form, but I spot the signs of his wolf as he prepares for the hunt.
His eyes glow with golden power. His braids float over his shoulder, simmering with ancient magic, and his tattoos swirl over powerful muscles that flex as his chest heaves.
And then there’s Ze’ev, my hunter who wields a bow of shadowy flames. He grins at me, eyeing me with his one good eye while his white one glows with his inner strength.
They’re ready.
The countdown has already begun. I still utilize a host, who is currently yelling into the microphone. It’s an annual show that streams for the royals and for the world, per my contract with King Cain, but the thrill of the show has changed.
It’s not about death anymore.
It’s about the claim.
“Catch me if you can,” I whisper, just as the countdown reaches its crescendo.
“Three!”
“Two!”
“One!”
I burst into action. My body has changed after fully mating two hybrids and a pureblood shifter, and I seem to keep developing new abilities every year.
I’m fast.
