The Harbinger's Forbidden Mate
img img The Harbinger's Forbidden Mate img Chapter 4 Arrival at Obsidian Academy
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Chapter 7 The Professor's Eyes img
Chapter 8 The First Attack img
Chapter 9 The Marked One img
Chapter 10 The Bite img
Chapter 11 The Teacher's Secret img
Chapter 12 Maya's Smile img
Chapter 13 Wolf, Blood, Fire img
Chapter 14 Faction Tensions img
Chapter 15 The Curse Revealed img
Chapter 16 The Blood Bond img
Chapter 17 Fire & Desire img
Chapter 18 Forbidden Heat img
Chapter 19 The Prophecy Scroll img
Chapter 20 Midnight Duel img
Chapter 21 Elias's Past img
Chapter 22 The Betrayal img
Chapter 23 Dreams of Desire img
Chapter 24 Selene's Offer img
Chapter 25 The Truth About Mother img
Chapter 26 The Midnight Ball img
Chapter 27 The Choice img
Chapter 28 Blood War img
Chapter 29 Harbinger Unleashed img
Chapter 30 The Professor's Sacrifice img
Chapter 31 The Aftermath of Fire img
Chapter 32 Shadows of the Living img
Chapter 33 The Awakening Curse img
Chapter 34 Her Claim img
Chapter 35 The Price of Resurrection img
Chapter 36 The Wolf's Lie img
Chapter 37 Blood Oath Broken img
Chapter 38 Two Hearts, One Curse img
Chapter 39 The Bite and the Bond img
Chapter 40 The Missing Queen img
Chapter 41 The Forgotten Bond img
Chapter 42 Mirror of Souls img
Chapter 43 The False God's Bargain img
Chapter 44 Half a Soul img
Chapter 45 The Man Who Should Be Dead img
Chapter 46 The God Within the Man img
Chapter 47 Ghost in the Flesh img
Chapter 48 The Puppet and the String img
Chapter 49 The Queen's Poison img
Chapter 50 The Blood Hunt img
Chapter 51 The Mark of Betrayal img
Chapter 52 Bound by Blood img
Chapter 53 The Shadow Between Us img
Chapter 54 The Goddess Inside Her img
Chapter 55 The Unforgiven img
Chapter 56 The Goddess Inside img
Chapter 57 Let's Begin Again img
Chapter 58 The Curse of Three img
Chapter 59 The Rising Shadow img
Chapter 60 Veins of Darkness img
Chapter 61 The Vessel and the Curse img
Chapter 62 The Revenant's Game img
Chapter 63 The Double and the Dead img
Chapter 64 The Shadow That Wore His Face img
Chapter 65 He Bleeds Shadows img
Chapter 66 Bound by Lies img
Chapter 67 The Forgotten Oath img
Chapter 68 Blood Calls to Blood img
Chapter 69 Kiss of Shadows img
Chapter 70 The Curse of Knowing img
Chapter 71 Her Darkness Awakens img
Chapter 72 The Day Fear Died img
Chapter 73 The Revenant Returns img
Chapter 74 The Chosen Betrayal img
Chapter 75 War of Hearts img
Chapter 76 Queen of Ash img
Chapter 77 The Choice of Chains img
Chapter 78 Kneel or Burn img
Chapter 79 Rule It's Ruin img
Chapter 80 When Love Hurts img
Chapter 81 Bound by Love, Bound by Fear img
Chapter 82 The Monster in Her Voice img
Chapter 83 Crown of Shadows img
Chapter 84 The Man Who Refused to Fall img
Chapter 85 Her Grief Opens Gates img
Chapter 86 The Revenant's Bargain img
Chapter 87 Blood Between Us img
Chapter 88 The Bond Breaks img
Chapter 89 When Love Divides Itself img
Chapter 90 The Wrong Heart img
Chapter 91 When Light Chose to Live img
Chapter 92 Haunted by Her img
Chapter 93 The War Within img
Chapter 94 Eden Burns img
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Chapter 4 Arrival at Obsidian Academy

POV: Rory Hale

The car halted so suddenly I almost smacked my forehead on the window.

"This is it," the woman in the black suit stated casually, like she wasn't throwing me into the jaws of something I didn't understand.

I lifted my eyes and my chest clenched.

The Academy wasn't a school. It was a monster with stone skin.

Gothic spires rose against the stormy sky, their sharp edges piercing into the clouds. Black iron gates curved with symbols I couldn't read. Mist clung to the broad woodland surrounding it, thick enough to cover anything wolves, shadows, maybe even bodies.

My pulse was hammered. "This looks like a haunted castle, not a school."

The tall man's mouth twisted in a humorless smile. "That's because this place doesn't teach the living. It trains survivors."

My throat is dry.

I murmured, "And if I don't survive?"

The younger agent with the disconcerting blue eyes leaned closer, too close. His breath ghosted over my ear. "Then you'll be food."

I flinched, but the woman silenced him with a harsh glare before opening the car door. "Rory Hale. Welcome to Obsidian Academy."

I went out, my sneakers crunching on gravel, and immediately felt stares. Everywhere.

Students congregated in bunches beyond the gates, all clad in dark uniforms that appeared far too beautiful to be human. Their eyes caught the weak lightsome gleaming faintly gold, others crimson, a few even silver like flaming stars.

I grabbed my bag strap closer, whispered under my breath, "Stay invisible. Just... stay invisible."

But invisibility was impossible here. I felt like prey dropped into a den of hunters.

A voice behind me ripped through the air. "She's here."

The crowd parted as someone walked ahead.

My breath hitched.

He was lovely in a way that was crisp, like glass. Tall, lean, hair like liquid silver spilling to his shoulders. His complexion was pale, too pale, but not sickly luminescent, almost gleaming under the storm clouds. His eyes were a striking shade of crimson, and when they rested on me, it felt like being stripped bare.

The woman's tone shifted, official now. "Lucien, this is Rory Hale. She'll be joining us."

Lucien's lips twisted in a slow, deadly smile. "So the rumors were true."

I swallowed. "What rumors?"

He didn't answer. He only stepped closer, his gaze fastened on me like I was the only heartbeat in the entire institution.

"You shouldn't be here," he muttered. His voice was satin and venom at once. "But gods, I'm glad you are."

My knees trembled. "Why?"

His smile deepened, displaying the edge of something too keen to be human. His breath stroked my cheek when he leaned in, muttering low enough only I could hear.

"Because I can taste you already."

I froze, blood turning to ice.

He pulled back slowly, eyes glinting with hunger, and for the first time in my life, I grasped what actual danger felt like not fists, not sadness, but someone who looked at you like you were a meal.

The woman cleared her throat. "That's enough, Lucien."

But his crimson stare never left mine.

My heart thundered, but I forced my voice to work. "If you touch me"

His laugh was soft, dark, and menacing. "Oh, little mortal. You don't even know what you are."

The word mortal shattered on me like lightning.

I wanted to yell at him, deny it, and demand answers. But the world spun anew, heavy with shadows and murmurs.

Kael's admonition echoed in my head: Don't trust anyone. Especially not the ones that smile at you.

And Lucien was smiling.

As Rory's skin prickles with invisible fire, Lucien tilts his head, crimson eyes blazing into her soul.

"You're the Marked One," he whispers. "And that means you belong to me."

The door creaked open, and for a second I thought maybe the wrong room had been assigned to me.

The walls were painted a deep shade of gray, velvet curtains pouring down like shadows. Candles flickered even though no one had ignited them. And sitting on one of the two beds was a female with fire-red hair, combat boots still on, and a sneer carved over her face like she'd been anticipating me.

"Well, look who finally made it," she replied, flinging her hair over her shoulder. "The new girl."

I halted in the doorway. "This is... my room?"

"Unless you plan to sleep in the hall," she added, arching an eyebrow. "Name's Maya. Maya Cross. And you're Rory Hale, the one they won't shut up about."

My chest tightened. "People are already talking?"

She laughed, low and harsh. "Honey, you walked into this place glowing. Of course they're talking."

I froze, clutching my bag tightly. "Glowing?"

Her smirk softened, just a little. "Relax. I mean metaphorically. Sort of. Everyone here smells power. Some of us more than others."

I shifted uncomfortably. "I don't have power."

"Sure," Maya answered, reclining back against the headboard like she had all the time in the world. "Keep telling yourself that. Maybe it'll even come true."

            
            

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