DEADALUS author of AETHERBORN

CHAPTER 163

The man’s words hung in the room like a death knell.

“You see, my dear lord, some Lost Ones seem to have lost their way and wandered into your home.”

Ravencourt’s face drained of all color. He looked as though he might faint, his trembling hands gripping the edge of his chair as if it were the only thing anchoring him. The lord sputtered, searching for words, but nothing came.

Above, hidden in the shadows, Thorne’s heart slammed against his ribs. He didn’t...

CHAPTER 162

The door swung open with an eerie creak, and the man strode in as though the room were his stage. His gait was unhurried, almost lazy, his hands tucked into the deep pockets of his sleek coat. He moved with the kind of confidence that wasn’t taught but inherent, born from the absolute knowledge that no one in the room could challenge him.

The oppressive energy that preceded him settled heavily into the room, turning the air cold and stifling. It pressed against every surface, e...

VAMPIRE LORD - CHAPTER 1

Ash curled through the night sky, glowing embers dancing against the blood-red clouds.

Alistair stood just behind the front line, perched on a stone outcrop near the breached gate. His guards, eight of them, all armored in darkplate and cloaked in crimson, formed a tight ring around him. He could smell their tension. Their hands never left the hilts of their weapons.

Ahead, chaos reigned.

He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, black cape fluttering in the wi...

CHAPTER 161

Thorne’s mind was in turmoil, the voices around him fading into a faint buzz. His thoughts spun as he tried to place the overwhelming presence he now felt. It loomed over him like a storm cloud, oppressive and inescapable, yet the source wasn’t immediately visible.

He couldn’t see the man, but he could feel him.

Back in Valewind, Thorne had seen him for only a few fleeting minutes. The memory had dulled over time but never vanished. The man had been in deep conversati...

CHAPTER 160

Their eyes remained locked across the grand room, but Thorne’s focus was shattered as an older noble approached him, cutting through the gathering crowd with an outstretched hand and an overly polished grin.

“Lord Silverbane! A pleasure, a true pleasure,” the man effused, his enthusiasm almost cloying. His golden-embroidered waistcoat gleamed under the chandelier light, and the jewels on his fingers caught the same glimmer as his watchful eyes. “We crossed paths at the Lo...

📢 Update Time!

Writing Book 3 the Aetherhold Arc  has been immensely fun… but also one of the most challenging things I’ve done so far.

Suddenly, the world of Aetherborn exploded in scope. I had to come up with kingdoms, new characters, lore, history, and so much more. The story pivoted in a big way, and I found myself trying to figure out soooo many things I hadn’t originally planned for: the spellcasting system, how magic differs f...

CHAPTER 159

“No.”

Thorne said, his voice low, tight, barely containing the fury threatening to boil over.

Uncle’s smirk didn’t waver. He closed his ledger with a soft snap and set it on the small table beside him, leaning back in his chair as if he had just made a perfectly reasonable request. “You heard me, boy. I want you to make an impression on young Lady Ravencourt. A lasting one.”

Thorne’s fists clenched at his sides, his knuckles turning white. “You’re as...

CHAPTER 158

Thorne leaned heavily against the barrel, the weight of Jonah’s command pressing down on him. He felt the sharpness of Darius’s glare, cutting deep. Jonah’s calm but unyielding tone made it clear that evasion wasn’t an option. Not entirely.

The silence stretched as Thorne tried to gather his thoughts. He straightened, his eyes shifting between the two of them. Darius’s barely contained fury and Jonah’s quiet intensity painted a clear picture: they deserved answers, bu...

CHAPTER 157

The silence that followed was deafening. It wasn’t just the absence of Rafe’s jeers or the lack of scuffling feet, it was the stillness that came after violence. A stillness filled with judgment.

Thorne stood amidst the wreckage, his chest rising and falling with every ragged breath. His hands trembled, faint traces of aether trailing from his fingers like restless fireflies. He looked down at them, his skin still humming with residual power, and for the first time, he didn�...

CHAPTER 156

The moment seemed to freeze. Thorne’s eyes locked on the cruel smirk of the Lost One, his dagger ready to slit Jonah’s throat.

Jonah’s bruised, terrified face stared back at him, helpless and resigned. Something inside Thorne snapped, breaking apart the careful restraint he had clung to.

The aether surged through him, an unstoppable tide that demanded release. He didn’t resist.

Before the Lost One could move, Thorne’s hand shot up, invisible threads of aethe...

CHAPTER 155

Thorne, Darius, and Ben strode into the warehouse, their footsteps echoing ominously on the creaky wooden floor. The faint tang of salt mixed with the acrid stench of damp wood and old sweat, making the air oppressive. Moonlight streamed through cracks in the warehouse roof, casting jagged patterns on the ground.

They made no effort to mask their presence, their resolve as stark as the sound of their boots.

The trio of figures standing near the center turned at their approa...

CHAPTER 154

The shop was quiet, save for the occasional creak of wood settling in the cool night air. Thorne sat across from Ben, the faint glow of the last candle casting flickering shadows on the walls. The cheap wine between them had been untouched for a while now. Thorne had said everything, about Aetherhold, the summons, and the faint, dangerous hope it offered.

Ben watched him with an unreadable expression, his fingers resting on the rim of his cup. Then, slowly, he signed. "You’re r...

CHAPTER 153

The water construct loomed before Thorne, its semi-translucent form shifting with every ripple of the waves behind it. It didn’t move like a person but flowed, liquid yet somehow held together by an invisible force. The intricate threads of aether wove through its form, making it shimmer like a star refracting through water. Thorne swallowed hard, his throat dry, as the strange figure spoke again.

“Thorne Silverbane,” the voice repeated, resonant and far away, as if ...

CHAPTER 152

“Uncle is waiting for you.”

Thorne asked for a moment to get dressed and collect himself. Arletta nodded crisply, stepping out of the room with measured grace. Before following, Sid lingered in the doorway, his eyes locking onto Thorne’s with a mixture of caution and urgency. The silent exchange carried a warning, a plea: Don’t do anything reckless.

Thorne’s lips pressed into a thin line, his nod reluctant and barely perceptible. Sid’s gaze lingered for a moment...

CHAPTER 151

The next time Thorne opened his eyes, the world greeted him with a muted haze. Strength, faint but present, pulsed through his body. A shadow of his usual vitality but enough to remind him he was alive.

He lay still for a moment, unwilling to break the fragile peace. The ache in his muscles and bones was not from bruises or wounds but from something deeper, a hollowness carved by his overuse of aether.

Aether.

The thought made him grimace. It was a double-edged sword....

CHAPTER 150

Thorne soared through the sky, carried aloft by wings woven of pure, shimmering aether. Colors blazed around him, a sky painted in hues of violet, pink, and amber as the sun dipped below the horizon. The golden light draped his skin, and the aether currents felt like silk rushing over his body, as if the energy itself cradled him. Each beat of his wings sent a ripple of power thrumming through him, and he reveled in a sense of freedom he had never known, an unshackled liberation that l...

CHAPTER 149

A surge of pure euphoria filled Thorne, every pulse of aether coursing through him, setting his veins ablaze with raw, untamed power.

He felt invincible, as if he’d finally unlocked the truest, most boundless version of himself.

 Even Sid’s wounded form was a fading memory somewhere in the back of his mind, a distant concern he barely registered through the all-consuming thrill of his control over the aether. The nagging sense that there might be consequences for w...

CHAPTER 148

Thorne’s vision blurred as he stared at Sid, his chest hollowing with dread. Panic clawed its way up his throat, his heartbeat hammering in his ears so fiercely it almost drowned out the beast’s enraged growls. Only one thought cut through the fog choking his mind.  

I have to reach him. I have to protect him. 

Without another thought, he activated Burst of Speed, pushing his body forward in a desperate blur across the uneven ground. The...

CHAPTER 147

The soft morning light filtered through the cracks in the worn-out lighthouse, casting long shadows over the dusty floor. Thorne stood at the edge of the room, watching the waves far below crash against the jagged rocks. The rhythmic pounding of the sea usually calmed him, but today, his mind was a storm of its own. Hope and resignation waged an endless war inside him, each trying to drown out the other. 

He didn't know how long he'd been standing there, lost in his thoughts...

BONUS CHAPTER - CHASING BUTTERFLIES

Eliza had seen many terrible things in her time with the guild. She had watched men and women break under torture, had seen recruits die in training, had slit throats in the dark and felt the warmth of life fade beneath her hands. But nothing had shaken her like Thorne’s final trial. 

The memory still lingered, sharp and vivid, like an old wound that refused to close. She had always known he was dangerous—everyone had. He was faster, sharper, deadlier than any of the...

CHAPTER 146

Thorne sat at the edge of the old lighthouse, his secret hideout, watching the sunrise spill across the horizon. The first light of day crept over the sea, turning the water gold, the waves catching the light in a way that should’ve felt calming. But inside, all he felt was a storm. 

Anger bubbled up inside him, a constant pressure that made his hands clench into fists. His jaw ached from grinding his teeth, and his pulse pounded in his temples, like a war drum matching th...

CHAPTER 145

The room swirled in a hazy fog of smoke, seductive music, and the clink of expensive glassware. Thorne had been mingling for hours, moving through the crowd with practiced ease, though the faces and voices around him were little more than a blur of false smiles and probing eyes.  

As the night dragged on, the party had turned even more decadent. Dancers draped in sheer scarves twirled and moved to sultry tunes, their bodies moving with serpentine grace. The rich scent of cig...

CHAPTER 144

A groan escaped his lips, low and strained. His head pounded, and for a fleeting moment, Thorne was blissfully lost, unaware of where he was or what had happened. He blinked groggily, the dull throb of his skull sharpening as reality forced itself back into focus.  

The dark room that greeted him felt suffocating, the curtains drawn shut, only a faint haze of light seeping through the edges, casting long shadows across the space. The air reeked of staleness, heavy with the s...

CHAPTER 143

Thorne stood, watching with cold detachment as Vance methodically dismantled Cynthia. Every strike, every feint, was delivered with precise intent. Vance had transformed into something lethal, his movements almost mechanical in their efficiency. Thorne’s eyes followed his old friend with the curiosity of a predator sizing up another. 

Vance never told him exactly what skill he used with his knives, but whatever it was, it was deadly. The daggers didn’t move in a predicta...

CHAPTER 142

Thorne stood frozen in place, the echoes of Cassandra’s screams still bouncing off the cold stone walls of the lair. His heart was a hard knot in his chest, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her, crumpled on the floor next to Devon’s lifeless body. The room was filled with the sharp tang of blood, and the oppressive silence that followed her wails only made it worse. 

This was the world they lived in. This was the cost of survival. 

Cassandra’s sobs ...

CHAPTER 141

Thorne’s breath hitched as Rielle raised her bow, her eyes locked on him with cold precision. His muscles tensed, and before he could even blink, an arrow whistled past his head, close enough for him to feel the sharp wind from its flight. His reflexes kicked in, and he dove to the side, heart pounding, his back hitting the cold stone wall behind him. 

What the hell? 

He looked up just in time to see Rielle leaping from the rooftop, her figure silhouett...

CHAPTER 140

Selene laughed, the sound bright and infectious, making everyone at the table pause and look at her in wonder. Even Jonah, who usually had something snarky to say, was caught off guard, a smitten look on his face. 

Thorne quickly kicked Jonah under the table to snap him out of it. “Wipe that look off your face,” he growled in a low voice. 

Jonah winced, then shook his head, the smitten smile replaced with a sheepish grin. “Right, right. My bad.” 

CHAPTER 139

Thorne awoke with a groan, the world swimming back into focus. The first thing he saw was Selene’s worried face hovering above him. Her eyes, wide with concern, locked onto his, and before he could stop himself, a goofy smile spread across his face.  

Of course, the first thing I do is grin like an idiot. 

“He’s awake!” Selene’s voice rang out, a mix of relief and surprise. 

Another face appeared over Thorne’s, pinched and decidedly...

CHAPTER 138

Thorne sat in the garden, his back against the rough bark of an old oak tree, leafing through a thick tome on the noble families of Caledris. The book was one Arletta had given him to study, its pages filled with the intricacies of lineage, alliances, and petty rivalries. Normally, this would have been a task he’d tackle with his usual focus, but today, he found it hard to concentrate. His eyes skimmed over the text without really absorbing any of it. 

A maid approached qu...

CHAPTER 137

Thorne sat back in the armchair, the plush velvet cushions cradling his aching body as he cradled a steaming cup of tea in his hands. The warm aroma of the brew wafted up, but he barely noticed it. The murmurs of conversation filled the room, a hum of voices that seemed distant, almost surreal. Uncle’s study was dimly lit, the fire crackling in the hearth casting flickering shadows across the walls lined with bookshelves. 

At the center of the room, Uncle stood, his imposi...