The moment Valerius turned to retreat, the air around him shifted.

  The ground beneath his feet trembled ever so slightly, as if the very kingdom itself had predicted his movements. The once silent city erupted into chaos—not in fear, but in perfectly orchestrated action. Guards moved as one, civilians vanished into hidden passageways, and the grand pace, which once seemed like an open invitation, became an unbreachable fortress in the blink of an eye.

  A trap.

  Valerius clenched his jaw, his mind racing. This wasn’t mere luck. This was preparation, anticipation—strategy.

  And at the center of it all was her.

  Lysara Everdawn.

  She hadn’t moved from her pce at the top of the grand staircase. She simply watched him with those changing eyes, the amusement never leaving her face.

  “You truly believed you could enter my empire unnoticed, Valerius?” she asked, tilting her head slightly. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

  Valerius didn’t respond. Words were meaningless now. He needed to escape.

  He dashed forward, his speed unnatural, a blur to the human eye. He had crushed armies alone, brought kings to their knees. No mere walls or defenses could contain him.

  And yet—

  Every path was blocked before he could take it.

  Guards moved in perfect sync, archers anticipated his movements before he made them, and every route of escape was sealed as if someone had mapped out his every possible step before he even took them.

  Impossible.

  His mind worked furiously. No one could pn this far ahead—not without seeing the future itself. Was it magic? No, he would have sensed it. Was it sheer intelligence? If so, this woman was beyond anything he had encountered before.

  She was human. She had to be.

  Yet, she was dismantling him, the strongest being in existence, as if he were nothing more than a reckless brute.

  Valerius changed tactics. Instead of running, he leaped onto a nearby rooftop, his crimson eyes scanning for weak points. There—an opening in the formation, barely noticeable but present. He surged forward, ready to break through.

  A dagger sliced through the air, embedding itself in the wooden beam just inches from his face.

  Valerius stopped, his eyes flickering toward the pace steps. Lysara stood there, elegant as ever, her fingers still poised from the throw.

  He narrowed his eyes. “You’re faster than you look.”

  She smiled, descending the steps gracefully, as if she had all the time in the world. “And you’re slower than I expected.”

  A taunt.

  Valerius had no time for this. He leaped again, moving faster, pushing his speed to its limit. No human should have been able to keep up—

  And yet.

  Lysara was there. Always there.

  Every step he took, she had an answer. Every maneuver he made, she had already countered it. It was maddening. For the first time in his long existence, Valerius felt caged.

  Not by chains.

  But by her mind.

  She wasn’t just smart. She was a monster in her own right—a monster of strategy, of precision, of an understanding so deep that it made brute force seem ughable.

  Valerius finally came to a stop, his chest rising and falling—not in exhaustion, but in frustration. No matter what he did, no matter how powerful he was, she was always a step ahead.

  Lysara stopped a few feet away, csping her hands behind her back, tilting her head slightly. “You understand now, don’t you?”

  Valerius said nothing.

  She took another step forward, standing close enough that he could see the flicker of mischief in her golden eyes. “Power is not everything, Lord Dracul.”

  His fangs pressed against his lips. No. It was impossible. No human should be able to do this to him.

  She was just a woman.

  Just a mortal woman.

  Yet, as he stood there, trapped in a kingdom that refused to kneel, before a ruler who refused to fear him, Valerius had to admit one undeniable truth:

  For the first time in centuries, he had been defeated.

  By her.

  By Lysara Everdawn.

  The tension between them lingered as the night stretched on. Valerius was given no choice but to withdraw. He had never run from a fight before, but tonight was different. Tonight, he had not been bested by strength or skill, but by something far worse.

  By a mind sharper than any bde.

  But as he vanished into the shadows, retreating from Lirielle’s borders, he realized something unsettling.

  She had let him escape.

  It wasn’t that he had broken free of her grasp—she had allowed it.

  She had shown him that, if she had wanted to, she could have captured him.

  He cast one final gnce back at the pace.

  She stood there, watching him go, her golden eyes warm, almost teasing.

  Elegant. Regal. Untouchable.

  Yet, despite everything—

  For just a fleeting second, as the moonlight caught her face—

  She looked young. Delicate. Adorable, even.

  Valerius scowled, pushing the thought away as he disappeared into the night.

  This wasn’t over.

  Not by a long shot.