She shouldn't have crossed the boundary.

The signs were there—No Trespassing. Keep Out. Dangerous Territory. But Ember had always been the kind of girl who tested fences just to hear them creak. She wasn’t running anymore. Not from the life that had boxed her in, not from the past that kept clawing at her heels.

But as soon as he stepped from the shadows, she understood she’d made a different kind of mistake.

He was more shadow than man—tall, imposing, power threaded into every quiet breath he took. His eyes burned amber in the dark, gleaming like a wildfire just waiting for a spark.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he said,...