But the peace is shattered when Carrion Swift returns—alive and treacherous. He brings with him a poisoned offering: Hayden, Saeris’s brother, chained and broken.

—If you want him alive, open Ajun —Carrion smirks.

Saeris doesn’t scream. Doesn’t beg.

She burns.

And agrees.

Not out of fear.

Out of fury.

The pact is sealed.

The price will be steep.

And love—even love born of enemies—may be the deadliest betrayal of all.

Fifth Part: Blood Pacts and Betrayal

The mountains of Yvelia guard truths that can shatter the will of the living. Saeris, on the brink of the abyss, finally learns what she feared most: her bloodline is not entirely human. Her mother, an alchemist. Her father, an exiled Fae. And she, an impossible blend of both worlds, was conceived for a hidden purpose. It wasn’t chance that brought her to the gauntlet. It was fate, meticulously woven in darkness.

—You have no idea the price it took to bring you here —Dairon confesses.