RUJIN’S POV I was fucking dying!
My skin felt hot and stretched as I lifted my hand, watching the way the light caught beneath the surface, and I realized that it was something else and not the usual burning sensation that hit me once in a while.
It was fucking hot, searing heat.
As I stood there, my body felt like it was filled with fire that was flowing through my body and veins.
The colour on my arms was rich amber, mixed with a darker, cooler bronze, and it seemed to be getting brighter with every breath I took.
I was breathing hard, and it was like trying to inhale through a throat full of broken glass.
Every time I exhaled, I could feel a faint humming noise, like something was burning deep inside me.
I slowly moved closer to the window glass and leaned forward, pressing my forehead on it.
The glass felt calm and soothing against my skin, a welcome relief from the burning sensation spreading through my body.
Without warning, the glass cracked, and I let out a frustrated curse in response.
I stood at the edge of the window, and the city of Kryos descended in endless tiers, a vertical graveyard carved into ice and stone, with the realization that up here, where I lived, the rules were different and I was the damn god that mattered.
“Don Marks.
The glass is rated for five thousand degrees, and you are exceeding its tolerance threshold.” Vane, my second in command, spoke up.
I closed my eyes, breathing through my teeth, even though that hurt, and I winced in response.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said hoarsely.
“Your heat is causing destruction,” he continued, voice as smooth and measured as ever.
“If the glass fails, it will destabilize everything, and we don’t want that, sir.
“Then build better glass.” I snapped at him.
“Yes, Sir.” He paused, and then I felt him move towards me.
“The cooling systems are operating beyond capacity, the building conduits are beginning to slag, and at this rate, you have fifty-three minutes before critical failure.” “I don’t need a countdown,” I snapped again.
“You need a solution, Don Marks,” He responded.
That made me turn, and the movement sent a visible wave of heat rolling outward, distorting the edges of the room.
Vane didn’t flinch, though I saw the sheen of sweat along his temple.
For a creature of cold blood, he tolerated this far better than most, and yet he still stayed back.
“The rogue asset,” I pointed out.
“Is he here?” Vane hesitated and then added, “He is.
Though I would advise strongly that we reconsider this course.” “I didn’t ask for advice, Vane.” “You’re going to get it anyway.” His tone sharpened.
“The creature we captured is not stable.
He is a damn Varg-Kyrie hybrid, an anomaly bordering on treason.
If the Shifter Council discovers this.” “The Council can rule over ashes,” I cut in, and the temperature spiked.
I stepped forward and felt the building tremble.
” Their damn solution failed.
Three Alphas and two Noble Vampires, all reduced to ashes within minutes, my condition is escalating, and the Dragon is not stabilizing; it’s waking up.” Silence stretched between us.
“If this hybrid is what the scouts claim,” I said more quietly, “he’s the only hope that I have left.” Vane studied me, and finally, he inclined his head.
“Initial reports suggest a ninety-nine percent thermal absorption rate.
He doesn’t resist heat; he draws it in.
Processes it.
Converts it.
He could stabilize you, but he is…
volatile as he killed two guards during transport.” A flicker of something dark and sharp cut through my pain.
“Good.
I don’t need obedience, just bring him in.” Vane signalled the door, and the pressurized slabs parted with a hiss, releasing a rush of artificially cooled air that evaporated almost immediately.
Four guards stepped inside, their armour reinforced with thermal dampeners, and they moved cautiously, keeping a deliberate distance.
Between them: chains.
Frost-covered, heavy, clinking against the scorched floor, and a man bound between them and even chained and held himself upright, that made the chains feel like nothing.
He was thinner than I expected, lean, with ribs showing faintly beneath torn clothing and scars mapping his skin.
“Kneel,” The guards ordered, kicking the hybrid at the back of his legs.
The response was immediate and violent as the hybrid twisted, his heel slamming into the guard’s foot with bone-cracking force, and a snarl ripped out of him, feral, sharp, more animal than man.
The guards surged, forcing him down as the metal bit into his flesh, and even pinned, he fought back.
“Enough.” The word landed like a weight, and the room stilled.
Slowly, the hybrid lifted his head, and his cold eyes were calculating, assessment-heavy, and alive with a dangerous defiance, deep brown, edged faintly with a pulsing, violet shade.
“So,” he spoke up, his voice was rough and cold, and each word seemed to leave a trace of frost in the air.
“This is the man you all dragged me here for?” A faint smile tugged at my mouth despite the fire clawing through me.
“You’re unimpressed.” He tilted his head.
“You look like you’re about to blow up.
I expected something more… stable.” A chuckle scraped out of my throat.
“I preferred the gutter slums,” he added, glancing at the suite with disdain.
“It was quiet and cold, and it didn’t smell like something burning.” “Leave us,” I commanded everyone in the room.
Vane didn’t move.
“Don Marks” “Out.” The word came with a flare of flame that came up my shoulders and brushed the ceiling of the room.
They all rushed out of the room, and the large doors closed behind them.
I stepped towards the Hybrid, and the floor crumbled into ash beneath me.
I stood six feet away from him, and the pain shifted, making me freeze in shock.
I was so surprised that I took another step, and something changed.
The pressure in my skull eased, and the fire that had been devouring me began to pull outward, drawn away from my dragon core and toward him.
I moved again, four feet, and the hybrid gasped.
His body reacted violently, knees buckling, chains rattling as his hands hit the ground and his breath came out sharp, visible, freezing and evaporating in the same instant.
“What the hell?” he gasped in utter shock.
I took another step, three feet, and relief flooded me.
The heat poured out of me, and the hybrid’s skin flushed, colour returning in a rush as steam curled from his shoulders.
“What are you doing?” he demanded, his voice breaking as he attempted to move away.
“We’re balancing,” I whispered in surprise.
I moved again, two feet, and the fire inside me quieted and reached down, gripping his chin, forcing him to meet my gaze, and the fact that his skin was ice made my body jump with joy.
“You’re using me,” he hissed, even as his body leaned in towards mine.
“Yes.
I am.” I smirked.
Something snapped into place, a connection, and I realized it was the ancient Thermal Lock.
Koro’s breath hitched.
He felt it too.
“What did you do?” “Nothing,” I said and pulled him to his feet; he swayed but didn’t fall.
“How far?” he growled at me as I watched the realization hit his face.
“Ten feet,” I answered.
His eyes sharpened.
“If I move beyond that”.
“You freeze,” I responded.
“And you?” “I burn into ashes, and you will not survive either,” I smirked at him.
“You’ve trapped us,” he growled and collapsed unconscious before me.
“No,” I responded.
” This is survival.” I tightened my grip slightly with the realization that the only thing standing between me and destruction was him.
A damn Varg-Kyrie hybrid CREATORS’ THOUGHTS Anna_Baibe Dear Sweeties.
I am back with a new book.
I hope that you will forgive me for deleting the other book Blood, Bones and Bitter Honey.
But I need to rewrite it once again.
Cheers.