AURORA'S POV
The shadows twisted around me, thick and suffocating, as I fell to my knees. My hands pressed into the cold black ground, trembling with exhaustion and rage.
“Ancestors,” I breathed, my voice cracking. “Help me. Please!”
A sudden pulse of power surged through the Shadow Realm. The earth beneath me split with a deafening crack. From the fissures, skeletal hands clawed their way upward, followed by pale figures cloaked in black mist. One by one, they emerged—a legion of vampires, their eyes glowing crimson like dying embers.
I stumbled back, my heart hammering.
They fell to one knee in perfect unison, their voices rising like a chorus of ghosts:
“Our queen has risen.”
My stomach twisted. My voice shook with anger. “No! This isn’t what I asked for!”
I lifted my face to t
