Adrian’s POV

Lucien’s body felt strange beneath me. He was restless and cranky, his pulse hammering against the cage of his ribs, and his spirit clawing at the edges of his own skin, desperate to hold on, but there was no contest. My will was iron. His was water.

I poured myself into him.

He was still there, thrashing like a chained wolf, but I bound him down with the weight of my will. I could feel his resistance like a muffled scream at the back of my mind, my essence settled fully into ...