A dragon shifter novel Chapter 88

Between The Shadows And Nightmares.

Allison

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I don’t think my brain has fully caught up with my body yet. One moment, I was standing in Thornhill’s courtyard, surrounded by music and moonlight and confusion. The next, I’m… here. Wherever here is. Ha dark, but not the kind of dark that feels empty. It has colour, movement, and life. Shadows twist like ribbons in the air, curling between pillars carved from obsiden that seem to stretch into forever. The air is warmer than it should be, and heavy with an electric charge, like lightning just before a storm and then there’s him…Standing right in front of me, looking like every child’s worst nightmare and every woman’s wettest dream. He’s tall, taller than anyone I’ve ever met. Evander’s broad, but this man makes him look like he’s still in training. Broad shoulders,

a chest carved from something divine, and abs that have abs. His skin is the colour of midnight soaked in sapphire, and it shimmers faintly as though shadows live beneath it. But what really catches me are the markings. They’re glowing. Intricate sigils, winding across his torso and down his arms, pulsing

softly and the closer 1 step, the brighter they become, like they’re reacting to me, I swallow hard, eyes tracing the elegant curve of the symbols before

forcing myself to look up at his face.

His eyes, gods, his eyes. I’ve never seen anything like them. They’re endless, dark, cosmic, like starting into a night sky where stars move of their own accord. I could fall into them and never find my way back. And then there are the horns. Two massive black horns curl back from his head, smooth and polished like

obsidian glass. They glint when the twin moons catch them. His tail and yes, he has a massive tail, moves lazily behind him, long and muscled, ending in a

sharp, metallic–looking edge that flashes like a blade. It… wiggles a little when I look at him.

I bite back a nervous laugh. “Does that thing have a mind of its own?” I murmur under my breath.

The corner of his mouth curves, just slightly, and the tail swishes again. Wonderful. It does.

My eyes drift down again which is a huge mistake, because his hands are enormous, with clawed fingers black as ink. They should terrify me, but instead I’m just… curious. I wonder how they’d feel… if they were to cut, or if they’d somehow know to be gentle with me.

“Careful, hummingbird,” he says softly, as if he somehow heard that thought. His yoice is a deep rumble, smooth and low, and it vibrates right through my chest. “The way you look at me makes the shadows jealous.”

I blink at him, unsure whether to blush or scowl, but before I can do either, he gestures toward the world around us.

“Come,” he murmurs. “You should see what’s yours now.”

The courtyard stretches open as we walk. The ground gleams like glass, reflecting everything above it, the sky, the stars, even the two moons that hang side by side. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful. To our right, there’s a lake. It isn’t water, not really, it’s more like liquid light, silver and shifting, like starlight made fluid. The surface ripples with faint faces and fleeting shapes that vanish before I can make sense of them. He pauses besides, watching me with those endless eyes. “The Lake of Remnants,” he says quietly. “It holds fragments of dreams and nightmares. The echoes of what toortals fears. You do not want to fall in.”

T

I shiver, even though the air is warm. “Why?”

His lips twitch, not quite a smile, but close. “Because if you do, you’ll never stop falling. You’ll live a thousand lives worth of nightmares before an almor

wain.”

I stare at the glowing water. “That’s horrifying.”

“It is,” he agrees, “but beatifid things often are

Talent i at him, then at the sad esund us. The sky looks alive with hundreds of constallations a

oting at Beshin bures if blow and wilet, isinting the heavens la mustian and beth it all, the dangerous thing in the place. Life he’s trying not lose its steps are shower that they shund he

long slowly sine recups, immed place to

King Will Heslike me like hawior ther is the ampuasaibig with

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Between The Shadows And Nightmares.

restraint and every few moments, when he thinks I’m not looking, his hand twitches, just slightly, like he wants to reach for mine.

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We wander through the courtyard, my eyes drinking in every inch of this impossible world. Every step we take feels like walking through a dream itself until the path opens up before us, and a castle. It’s monstrous and magnificent all at once. A towering structure of black stone and dark glass, its spires scraping at the twin moons above. Sargoyles perch along every ledge, wings unfurled and fangs bared. Some look like demons, others like beasts I’ve never seen before, and I swear a few of them move, their eyes following me as I walk. The air around the building hums faintly with magic, the kind that makes the hairs on my arms stand upright. Rhaziel stops beside me, his expression unreadable, though I catch the faintest glimmer of pride in the way his jaw tilts toward the great doors ahead

“This,” he says, his voice a low rumble that vibrates through the stone beneath our feet, “is our kingdom.”

1 let out a quiet, disbelieving laugh. “You mean your kingdom.”

He turns his head toward me, and when he smiles this time, it’s softer, less the king of demons, more the man beneath it. “No, hummingbird,” he says, and

the sound of that nickname in his voice does something strange to my chest. “The Fates have spoken. It is ours.”

Before I can find words, he gestures toward the massive onyx doors. “Would you like to see inside?”

Truth be told, I am curious. Maybe it’s the part of me that’s always been drawn to forbidden things. Or maybe it’s because his voice sounds almost hopeful

when he asks.

I nod. “Yes. I’d like that.”

He smiles now, and, gods, it is a beautiful smile. He steps forward, resting one clawed hand against the doors. They respond instantly, groaning open with a deep, echoing sigh, as though the building itself recognises its master. The moment I step inside, my breath catches.

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R Visitor

Always drawn to forbidden things…

7 days ago

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Thornhill Academy

Someone Who Can Match the Darkness.

The interior isn’t what I expected, it’s dark, yes, but full of so much life. The walls are made of polished stone, inlaid with faint veins of gold that pulse like a heartbeat. Shadows ripple lazily across the floor, but when I look closer. I realise they’re reflections of the chandeliers floating high above, carved from

black crystal and lit by orbs of soft silver fice. The ceiling stretches endlessly upward, painted with moving constellations that mirror the sky outside. The air

smells faintly of smoke, old parchment, and something sweet, like the moment before a thunderstorm. Two grand staircases curve from the entrance,

meeting at a balcony lined with carved gargoyles and thored vines of obsidian metal. Beneath it, the hall splits into corridors that seem to stretch forever

Rhaziel watches me take it all in, his fail flicking lazily behind him, his glowing markings Taintly illuminating the space around us. “Do you like it?” he asks

quietly.

I glance up at him, still a little breathless. “It’s… beautiful. And terrifying.”

He chuckles, a low, deep sound that echoes through the hall like a secret. “Good,” he says. “That means it suits us,”

I turn slowly, my gaze flicking between the chandeliers and the demon standing only a few paces away. His markings glow faintly in the dim light, that strange, beautiful rhythm that seems to pulse in time with my own heartbeat.

“Do you…” I hesitate, shifting my weight. “Do you know what I am?”

Rhaziel’s lips twitch upward, but it turns into an expression softer than anything I’d expect from a king of nightmares. “Of course I do.”

He steps closer, the sound of his bare feet on the marble soft, deliberate. “I found you,” he says quietly, “on a night I was feeding from the nightmares.”

My pulse quickens. “You–what?”

His expression doesn’t change, but his voice drops lower, richer. “Your wraith,” he continues, “was unlike any I had ever encountered. Its hunger, its grace, its power, it was breathtaking…and the moment I realised that the wraith belonged to you… that its strength was bound to your magic, that its heart beat

with yours…

He exhales slowly, the heat of his breath curling between us like smoke. “You captivated me.”

My throat goes dry.

“I followed you for more than a week,” he admits. “In the shadows. Watching. Listening. Trying to understand why I felt the pull I did. Until I unders that it was not a spell, nor a mistake.” His voice softens, reverent. “It was fate. I knew, in my soul, that you were mine, Hummingbird

The way he says it–mine- should terrify me. But it doesn’t. It feels… inevitable.

“Does it bother you?” I ask quietly. “What I am?”

His brows draw together, almost offended by the question. “Of course not.” He straightens, his eyes gleaming faintly under the twin moods litering though the stained glass. “You are extraordinary. You are power, chaos, and creation woven into one. I am proud to call you the other half of my son.”

Tavallo, my bean hammering against my tiles. There’s no deceit in his tone, no hunger for control or fear. Inst the plain and simple th

He vil has bead slightly, and that faint, wicked smile turus. “Does it bother you what I am?”

He gestion de his flythe tall, broad form choked in chaos and light; the dark blue son etched with bannlinna sigit; the blick hom that i Duty, the tallying baily behind him, stay to cut gluat-

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Someone Who Can Match the Darkness.

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My voice is barely a whisper when I add, “It kind of feels like you’re supposed to be another part of me…a part that can handle the darkest parts of me

Rhaziel’s grin deepens, slow and knowing, like a sunrise breaking through darkness. “Then perhaps,” he murmurs, stepping closer until I can feel the warmth of him radiating through the air, The Fates have finally done something right.”

CRASH! The sound shatters the moment, a thunderous crack that echoes through the grand hall. I jump violently, my heart slamming into my ribs as the enormous front doors burst open behind us, slamming into the stone walls hard enough to make the chandeliers tremble overhead. Without even thinking, I flinch and my hand shoots out, grabbing the closest thing I can reach

Rhaziel. His hand. His skin is warm. Not the kind of heat that burns, but the type that coils, alive and steady, spreading through my palm like a living heartbeat. His fingers twitch, just once, before curling around mine, slow and deliberate, until my hand disappears completely inside his. I can’t move. I don’t even breathe. The air shifts; the power in the room changes. From the doorway, ten demons charge into the hall. They’re tall, broad, and armed with weapons that look carved from the bones of the earth itself. Their eyes glow in varying shades of red, gold, blue, green and violet, and the moment they see

us, they stop dead in their tracks. Silence ripples through the space. Their gaze is locked on us. But even as their presence fills the hall like a storm, Rhaziel

doesn’t move. His enormous fingers, tipped with black claws sharp enough to gut a god, remain wrapped carefully around mine- careful and gentle, like

I’m something precious that might break if he holds too tightly. The glow of the markings across his arms flares brighter, a soft pulse that answers the

rhythm of my own heartbeat. I glance up at him, trying to read his expression, expecting fury, command, something that suits a king, but what I find instead

takes my breath away.

He isn’t looking at the soldiers. He isn’t even paying attention to them. His entire focus is on our hands. Like the world could crumble around him and he

wouldn’t care, so long as I didn’t let go.

My pulse stumbles. “Rhaziel,” I whisper, but it comes out faint, uncertain.

Only then does he lift his head, slowly and unhurriedly, as though the intrusion behind us barely registers as a threat. The demons at the door fall instantly to one knee, heads bowed low, their weapons clattering against the stone floor. But his gaze never leaves mine.

“Do not be afraid, Hummingbird,” he says softly, his thumb brushing over the back of my hand in a single, grounding motion. “They bow not to me, but to

1. us.

And I swear–for just a heartbeat I feel the power of that truth thrumming between our palms, as if the shadows of his kingdom bow in reverence to

their King and Queen.

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R Visitor

2 Comments

so each of her mates have their place in her life, but some live for centuries others????? so by the sound of it she could be left in a few 100 years as Queen with only one mate…

7 days ago

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Thornhill Academy

She Held My Hand.

Rhaziel

Her hand is so small in mine. So warm. So Impossibly perfect. The moment her fingers curl around mine, everything in me goes still: the shadows, the bum of the walls, the restless murmurs of the realm itselt. Even the nightmares that usually slither and breathe through these halls hold their breath. Her touch hums through every inch of my body, vibrating through marcow and magic, until it settles somewhere deep beneath my ribs, in that strange, mortal place they call a heart. I’ve held a thousand blades, torn through armies, shattered worlds. My hands were made for power, not softness. But hers… hers fit against mine like something crafted by the Fates themselves. Her pulse flutter against my paint, quick and wild, and the thought crashes into me all at once she’s frightened, and she reached for me. Her instinct, her first thought, was to seek her mate. Me. The sensation that floods me then is… unbearable in its

sweetness. A burn in my chest, light and molten. She’s still looking at the doors, trembling faintly, unaware that every fibre of my being has become aware

of her. The sound of her breathing. The scent of her fear and defiance mingled. The way her magic flickers against mine like a hesitant spark searching for

home.

My fingers twitch, the demon in me wants to grip, to claim, to hold her tighter, but I force myse to move slowly. Carefully. I curl my claws around her

delicate hand, letting the edges of my power wrap around her skin. My palm almost swallows hers whole. I could crush it so easily. The thought makes my

chest eche. I never want to. My queen. My little hummingbird. She doesn’t yet understand what that single, terrified gesture means. But I do. The Fates didn’t just bind us; they reminded me what it means to feel. Her power flutters beneath her skin where our hands meet. My runes flare in response, unbidden, burning brighter along my forearm until the light dances up my chest. She notices, I can tell by the way her breath catches, but she doesn’t pull away. For a creature who commands shadows, I have never felt so illuminated.

And then–A throat clears. Loud, awkward and utterly intrusive. The sound cuts through my reverie like a blade. I blink once, dragging my gaze from our hands, reluctantly and painfully, to find one of my soldiers at the front of the group. He’s kneeling, eyes fixed firmly on the floor, but his unease radiates

like heat.

“My King,” he says, voice trembling slightly. “Forgive the interruption. We–uh–we didn’t know you had….company.”

I feel the growl rise in my throat before I can stop it. The hall darkens; torches dim. Ten of my finest, bowing low, trying not to breathe too loudly in my presence and all I can think about is how their interruption has stolen this moment from me. I force my jaw to unclench and look down again at the hand still nestled in mine. Her pulse flutters faster, but she’s still holding on.

“Company,” 1 echo, my voice dropping to a purr that makes the soldiers flinch. “You call your Queen company?

Ten heads bow lower. Her head jerks toward me at the word Queen, eyes wide and bewildered. But I only smile, my thumb tracing the soft ridge all her knuckles. Let them tremble. Let them kneel. Let the realm itself quake. All that matters right now is this tiny, trembling hand in mine, and the way je feels like light in a world made entirely of shadow.

The soldier’s eyes go round as moonstones the moment my words sink in. His tail all but tucks between his legs as he stammer “My–My Queen- 1 hey forgiveness! I did not realise–I hadn’t known you’d- that you’d found her.”

He drops lower, his forehead nearly kissing the marble. “My deepest congratulations, Your Majesty. To have found our Queen is–it is an honour beyond

And then she giggles. A soft, human sound. Lighs and effervescent. It cuts through the heavy air like sunlight through smoke, I map my head toward hit, towards the cutest thing I’ve ever heard. She’s laughing and I have no idea why, but I am utterly in love with that sound. The wor

eyes sparkling with something that feels suspiciousty like mischief. I am utterly unmade by it. My runes warm in respo, glowing faintly zeisma

and for

She notices me abwing, and her expression sohens, “Sorry,” she yet, soring het toe band as if to brush away the halty hanging thick we not do the white lowing thing? It’s a dramatic

Ah. So my Quan doet, like using Notot, Elcho im erity

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She Held My Hand.

“Stand,” Leommand, and my voice fills the chamber, low and resonant. The soldiers jerk upright at once, armour clinking as they scramble to obey. They keep their eyes firmly downcast. I glance back at her to see if this pleases her, to see if I’ve done well, but she’s smiling again. That small, knowing smile that both steadies and shatters me.

She tilts her head, mischief playing in het tone. “Are they allowed to look up, my King?”

The way she says my King, it’s teasing, it’s playful, it’s pure danger. My tail flicks behind me, the tip twitching once before curling possessively.

“They are allowed to do whatever you would like them to, my Queen”

And then she does the unthinkable, she lets go of my hand. The warmth leaves instantly. The shadows stir in protest, sensing my displeasure. My palm

feels… wrong without hers, Empty, I stare down at it for a moment, utterly still, as if my body can’t quite comprehend that it’s alone again.

She turns to the soldiers, completely unaware of the small chaos she’s caused in me. “Can everyone look up, please?” she says brightly. “It’s a bit odd to

meet someone without seeing their eyes.”

Every demon in the room hesitates. Their gazes flicker uncertainly between us, between their King and the girl who just gave an order with a smile and a

please

I find myself smiling too, because she doesn’t even know it yet, but this girl already commands the darkness better than I ever could. And the shadows,

traitorous as ever, already love her for it. Now if she would just give me back that hand of hers…

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R Visitor

I cant put this book down

7 days ago

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Thornhill Academy