To Wake a Shadow

The bond was never meant to save her. It was meant to feed the throne.

Caitlin Young has spent her life being told the shadows are not real.

The mirror glitches. The lights flicker when she is angry. The scars around her wrists burn like old chains. Doctors called it illness. Treatments kept her quiet. Pills kept her numb.

Then the scars turn black.

Then the shadows come alive.

Then Prince Khelben steps through a tear in the air and claims her as his fated Anchor.

He is the ruler of a brutal shadow realm hidden beneath the mortal world, a prince of obsidian, violet fire, and a marble-grey curse slowly turning his body to stone. His throne is failing. His enemies are circling. His kingdom is being eaten by the void.

And Caitlin is the only mortal who can keep him alive.

Khelben offers protection, but his palace is a gilded cage. His touch burns like a brand. His court sees Caitlin as a weapon, a vessel, or a sacrifice waiting to be drained.

High Lady Vesper wants Caitlin's magic harvested before it can change the balance of power. The noble houses want her controlled. Khelben needs her close enough to save him, even if the bond between them begins to hollow her out.

But Caitlin is done being treated like something broken.

To survive the Shadow Palace, she must master the darkness she spent years trying to suppress. To face the prince, she must decide whether the hunger between them is fate, curse, or something far more dangerous.

Because Caitlin was never just the key to Khelben's survival.

She is the weapon that could save his throne.

Or shatter it.