My heart pounded. My fingers clawed against the invisible grip.

  I looked at him—Okami—and tried to speak.

  A rasp. That’s all I managed. “I…”

  “What’s that?” Amara mocked sweetly. She flicked her wrist.

  The Dojo eased just enough for air to reach my lungs.

  Gasping, I locked onto him. Every part of me raw and burning. But I found the words.

  “I love you.”

  They weren’t strong.

  But they were true.

  Okami went still.

  Utterly, completely still.

  Amara’s lips curled.

  “How cute,” she said. “She loves you. Well, Takashi?” She leaned in. “Do you love her?”

  The room went silent.

  Okami’s growl cut through the room like a blade. Power trembled in the air, thick and volatile.

  “I’m not kidding, Amara,” he snarled. “I’ll kill you.”

  She didn’t flinch.

  “I know,” she said, almost fondly. Her eyes shimmered with that eerie calm—the kind only possessed by the utterly unhinged. “And maybe you’ll even get the chance. But not before she dies.”

  He moved—fast.

  Dojo surged from his hands, a blast of raw force aimed straight at her.

  But Amara was faster.

  She yanked me in front of her.

  The blast slammed into my chest.

  Pain exploded across every nerve. My body seized as I cried out, barely able to register the scream tearing from my throat. I crashed back into her like a rag doll; the impact rattling through my spine.

  “Last chance, Takashi,” Amara called, her voice laced with triumph. “Take the girls. Leave. Finish your mission. Isn’t that what you’re good at—abandoning people when it counts?”

  Before he could answer⁠—

  The air cracked.

  Magic tore through the space like a living storm. Not Okami’s. Not hers.

  The whole room shifted.

  Electric arcs laced with heat and force split the darkness, slamming into Amara with a shriek of power. Her scream pierced the chaos—raw and unfiltered—as she was flung backward. Her grip on the noose shattered.

  I dropped.

  The floor hit me hard, but I didn’t care. I could breathe.

  Air filled my lungs like fire, each gasp cutting through the pain as I clung to consciousness.

  Then—hands.

  Strong. Steady.

  Arms slipped under me, lifting me gently. Urgency in every movement, but not panic.

  “I’ve got you,” someone whispered, voice rough with emotion.

  Okami?

  No.

  My head lolled as I blinked through the haze. Everything was blurry, smeared at the edges.

  But I saw him.

  That face.

  That voice.

  I rasped, disbelief choking out the name. “…Gabriel?”

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  Acknowledgments

  First and foremost, to my readers.

  Frankie, for your amazing edits and making this story the best it can be. Thank you for pushing me to make this better.

  Maria, for your beautiful, eye catching covers. I cannot stop staring.

  My family - Frank, Kylee, Madisyn, Ely, Avery, Jacob, and Josh. Your love is the best thing that ever happened to me.

 

 

  Isadora Brown, Shadows Unveiled

 

 

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