Julian POV

The stone steps leading up to the tower suite felt longer tonight. My boots hit the spiral steps with a heavy, fast rhythm, the echo of which bounced strongly against the narrow walls. In my chest, a chaotic and relentless pressure spread through my veins. It was not fear of Alejandro Montoya's black battalions, nor of the legal threats of the High Council. It was the frantic and desperate calculation of a man trying to bend an ancient cosmos to his will. Prophecy required his lineag