The first time Basil sees Cassian Thorn, he’s standing over a ritual altar, his obsidian blade dripping with blood that isn’t his. She watches from the shadows of the Shadowveil Ball, her pulse roaring not with fear, but fury. This is the vampire who cursed my mother. This is the man I’m here to destroy. But before she can act, the floor cracks beneath her, and a forgotten sigil flares — ancient magic seizing her wrist, then his. Their blood mingles on the silver runestone, and in that instant,