The smuggler's den in the Shadow Veil was a charnel house, the air thick with the stench of blood, burnt flesh, and the acrid tang of shadow magic. Bodies littered the cavernous chamber—smugglers, mercenaries, and the assassin Zevryn had slain, their lifeless forms a testament to the brutality of the fight. The shadow beast's charred corpse smoldered in the corner, its claws still dripping with Zevryn's blood. Zevryn Thaloryn leaned against the wall, his chest heaving, his black obsidian armor torn across the back where the beast had raked him. The wounds burned like hellfire, but the pain was a distant second to the heat coursing through him from Lysara Veyne's touch.Lysara stood before him, her shadowweave armor partially torn, revealing the curve of her breasts and the glistening sweat on her skin. Her amber eyes were wild, her dark hair a tangled mess, and her lips swollen from their earlier kiss. She wiped the blood from her hands, her shadow magic still coiling around her like a lover's embrace, and stepped closer, her gaze locked on Zevryn's. "We need to move," she said, her voice husky, still raw from the screams of their shared climax moments ago. "Drayce's men will come for the assassin's body—and the intel they were carrying."Zevryn's violet eyes darkened, his starfire tattoos glowing faintly as he pushed off the wall. His dick was still hard, straining against his armor, the memory of her tight, wet pussy gripping him making his blood boil. "Fuck Drayce," he growled, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her against him. Her cunt pressed against his thigh, the heat of her arousal soaking through the shadowweave, and he groaned, his hands sliding down to grip her ass. "I'm not done with you, princess."Lysara's laugh was a dark, sultry sound as she ground against him, her nails digging into his shoulders, reopening the cuts from the beast. "You're insatiable," she purred, her lips brushing his ear. "But we've got a war to win, Zevryn. Fuck me again later—when we're not surrounded by corpses."He smirked, his hand sliding between her legs, fingers brushing her clit through the armor, making her gasp. "Promises, promises," he murmured, but he released her, stepping back to adjust his armor. The pain in his back flared, but he ignored it, his focus shifting to the assassin's body. He knelt beside the corpse, pulling the Noctarys sigil from the armor and holding it up to Lysara. "You've got some explaining to do. One of your own killed my father. If you're hiding something, I'll burn it out of you."Lysara's expression hardened, her shadow magic flaring as she snatched the sigil from his hand. "I told you, I didn't know," she snapped, her voice sharp enough to cut. "But I'll find out. Noctarys has its share of traitors—someone's playing both sides. We need to get back to the Starlance and interrogate the prisoners we took."Zevryn nodded, his mistrust simmering but held in check by the memory of her loyalty in battle—and the way she'd screamed his name. "Fine," he said, standing. "But if I find out you're lying, Lysara, I'll fuck you raw and then slit your throat."Her smile was cold, but there was a flicker of desire in her eyes. "I'd like to see you try, prince," she replied, turning to lead the way out of the chamber, her hips swaying with deliberate provocation.The journey back to the Starlance was tense, the dragon riders forming a protective perimeter around Zevryn and Lysara as they moved through the nebula's haze. Shadow beasts prowled in the distance, their roars echoing through the void, but the starfire runes on the dragons kept them at bay. Selene Mirath greeted them at the ship's hatch, her golden hair now loose, her starry eyes wide with concern as she saw the state of Zevryn's armor. "You're hurt," she said, her voice trembling. "We need to get you to the med bay—""Later," Zevryn cut in, his tone sharp. "Get the prisoners to the interrogation chamber. I want answers." He glanced at Lysara, his gaze hard. "And you're coming with me. We're doing this together."The interrogation chamber was a stark, cold room aboard the Starlance, its walls lined with starfire-infused restraints that nullified magic. Two prisoners—smugglers who had survived the assault—were chained to the walls, their faces bruised and bloodied from the fight. The first, a wiry man with a cybernetic eye, spat blood onto the floor as Zevryn entered, his sneer defiant. "You're fucked, prince," he rasped. "Drayce Korath knows you're here. He's coming for you—and the Starheart."Zevryn's starfire flared, his tattoos glowing as he grabbed the man's throat, his fingers burning with heat. "Where is he?" he demanded, his voice a low growl. "Tell me, or I'll burn your fucking eyes out."The smuggler laughed, a wet, choking sound. "Go to hell," he spat, and Zevryn's patience snapped. He drove his fist into the man's face, the crack of bone echoing through the room as the smuggler's nose shattered, blood spraying across Zevryn's armor. The man screamed, but Zevryn didn't stop, his starfire searing the smuggler's skin as he punched again, and again, until the man's face was a ruined mess, his cybernetic eye sparking and fizzing as it shorted out. "Last chance," Zevryn snarled, his voice dripping with rage."Drayce… Veil's core… old mining station," the smuggler gasped, blood bubbling from his lips. "He's… got mercenaries… shadow mages…" His head lolled, and Zevryn dropped him, the man's body slumping in the restraints, barely alive.Lysara stepped forward, her shadow magic coiling around the second prisoner—a younger woman with a shaved head and a scar across her lip. "Your turn," Lysara said, her voice cold as she extended a tendril of shadow, the darkness wrapping around the woman's throat. "Tell us about Noctarys. Who hired the assassin?"The woman's eyes widened, her defiance crumbling as the shadow tightened, cutting off her air. "I don't… know names," she choked out, her voice a desperate wheeze. "But… I heard… Councilor Varn… he's working with Drayce… wants the Starheart… to overthrow Noctarys' council…"Lysara's face darkened, her shadow magic tightening until the woman's neck snapped with a sickening crunch, her body going limp. "Councilor Varn," Lysara muttered, her voice trembling with fury. "That traitorous bastard. I'll gut him myself."Zevryn watched her, his anger mingling with a grudging respect—and a renewed hunger. The brutality of the interrogation had only heightened his desire, the blood on his hands a stark contrast to the heat in his veins. He grabbed Lysara, pulling her against him, his lips crashing into hers in a kiss that was more violence than tenderness. She moaned into his mouth, her hands tearing at his armor, her nails raking across his chest as she bit his lip hard enough to draw blood."Fuck, you're a savage," Zevryn growled, his hands ripping at her shadowweave, exposing her dripping pussy. He lifted her, pinning her against the wall of the interrogation chamber, the prisoners' bodies still hanging nearby. Her legs wrapped around him, her cunt slick and ready as he thrust into her, hard and deep, his dick filling her completely. "You like this, don't you?" he rasped, his voice rough as he fucked her, each thrust a punishing rhythm. "Killing, fucking, all in the same breath.""Yes," Lysara gasped, her pussy clenching around him, her shadow magic swirling around them, amplifying the sensation. "Fuck me harder, Zevryn. Make me scream." She clawed at his back, reopening his wounds, the pain mixing with pleasure as he drove into her, his starfire flaring with each thrust. She came with a scream, her cunt pulsing around his cock, and Zevryn followed, his release a roar as he spilled inside her, their magic colliding in a burst of light and shadow that shook the room.They slumped against the wall, panting, their bodies slick with sweat, blood, and cum. Zevryn pressed a bruising kiss to her lips, his voice a low growl. "We're going after Varn. And Drayce. Together."Lysara nodded, her amber eyes glowing with a fierce determination—and something softer, something that looked dangerously like love. "Together," she agreed, her voice a whisper.Outside the Starlance, Mira Tselvar clung to the hull of a stolen smuggler ship, her ash-blonde hair whipping in the cosmic wind. She had followed Zevryn's team, her stolen holo-map leading her to the Veil's core. The nineteen-year-old thief's green eyes narrowed as she spotted Drayce's mining station in the distance, its lights a beacon in the darkness. She didn't know what she'd find there, but she knew one thing: the Starheart was her ticket out of the slums—and she'd kill anyone who stood in her way.
