Azrith Vale - POV

  I did not enter the realm of light. I slipped into it. Darkness does not knock; it appears where shadows already exist.

  The palace of the dark court shimmered before me-pillars of molten gold, floors polished like still water, air heavy with sanctity. Disgusting. Radiant. Pure. Weak. Light was always loud about its virtue. I stood unseen atop a high archway carved with ancient runes of protection. They glowed beneath my boots, trying to reject me. They failed. Nothing built by gods had ever truly kept me out.

  My gaze swept the court once-and then stopped.

  Her.

  Phoenix stood in the center of the terrace garden where sunlight gathered like worshippers. Gold spilled through her hair. Fire rested in her shoulders. She wore no crown, no armor, no weapons, and yet the air around her still bowed. She was speaking-not commanding, speaking-and beside her stood him.

  Solis. Prince of Light. The Sun himself.

  I had heard stories of him: noble, merciful, beloved. A warrior wrapped in righteousness. A king shaped from hymns. I studied him the way a blade studies a throat. Tall. Balanced stance. Shoulders relaxed but ready. Aura steady. No arrogance in posture. Strong-not fragile strong. Battlefield strong. Interesting.

  My eyes lowered slightly as his hand lifted and touched her wrist. Not possessively. Not boldly. Gently. The movement was small, harmless, almost respectful. Phoenix didn't pull away. She smiled.

  Something inside my chest shifted

  Not pain. Not rage.

  Calculation.

  I watched the exact distance between them. Measured breath. Measured angle. Measured timing. If I struck from above, Solis would react in 0.3 seconds. If I struck from behind, 0.1. If I went for Phoenix first-

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  No.

  My jaw tightened slightly. Not yet.

  The garden wind lifted her hair and she turned toward him, saying something I could not hear. Solis laughed softly-the sound of someone who had never been taught to fear silence. How curious. I tilted my head. The sun prince was not touching her like prey. He wasn't staking claim. He was waiting. Respecting. Patient.

  That made him far more dangerous than tyrants.

  Tyrants could be broken.

  Patient men could not.

  My gaze darkened. So this was the rival fate had chosen for me. Not a brute. A king. Good. I would have been disappointed otherwise.

  Phoenix shifted again and for one fleeting second her expression softened-the sharp edges of her warrior's soul easing like armor set aside. She looked... peaceful.

  The sight struck harder than any weapon.

  Not because she belonged to him.

  Because she looked like she could.

  That was unacceptable. Not because I wanted her gentle, but because I wanted her burning. For me.

  The realization slid into my mind like a blade between ribs.

  Ah.

  So that was the game.

  Not possession. Not conquest. Choice.

  I didn't want to steal her. I wanted her to walk toward me herself. My lips curved slowly. Yes. That would be far more satisfying.

  Solis said something then, voice low. Phoenix laughed-a quiet sound, rare, dangerous, alive. My fingers tightened against the stone railing. The arch beneath me cracked silently.

  The sun prince noticed.

  Of course he did.

  His head lifted. His eyes scanned the shadows-sharp, very sharp. For the first time, our gazes almost met.

  Almost.

  I stepped back into darkness before his sight could land. He sensed something. Not me-but something. His hand drifted closer to Phoenix, protective, instinctive.

  My grin widened.

  Oh, I was going to enjoy breaking him.

  Not killing.

  Breaking.

  There is a difference.

  I let my shadow slip downward like spilled ink. It crossed the marble, climbed her ankle, curled around her wrist-soft, invisible, intimate. Phoenix froze. Her breath stilled. She felt it. Of course she did.

  Slowly, very slowly, I leaned close enough for my voice to brush the shell of her ear. No one else heard it. Not even the sun.

  "Careful, flame," I whispered. "Stand too close to the sun... and you forget how beautiful darkness feels."

  Her pulse jumped. Her fingers tightened.

  Solis turned sharply. "Phoenix?"

  Laugh while you can, I thought, watching from the veil between worlds. Even suns set.

  And when they do-

  Darkness always arrives first.