Underthrall - Daric Hollow, #5

Boyd

I have always been good with pressure. Creating it. Controlling it. Applying exactly enough force to bring someone to their knees.

Underthrall obeys me more reliably than most people do, and I prefer it that way.

People are easier when they stay at the surface. A smile, a well-timed remark and just enough flirtation usually keep them interested without letting them close. I enjoy the attention, they enjoy the performance, and nobody makes the mistake of expecting permanence from me.

Then I make the mistake of turning my charm on Professor Celeste Ardin.

She is controlled, brilliant and entirely unimpressed by every weapon I usually carry into a room. She sees the charm for what it is, calls me on every deflection and refuses to let me turn anything real into another game.

Unfortunately, I have never wanted anyone more.

With Daric Academy consumed by a brutal elite competition, Celeste and I are forced into endless trials, dangerous resonance exposure and far too many nights alone together. Every argument pulls us closer. Every accidental touch becomes harder to ignore, and the pressure between us keeps building until restraint starts feeling like a physical injury.

I know how to handle desire. I know how to make it rough, temporary and uncomplicated.

This is none of those things.

Because somewhere between provoking Celeste and trying not to touch her, I start noticing what happens when she enters a room. For the first time, the performance is failing.

The closer Celeste gets, the more she strips me down to the man beneath the charm, and I am beginning to realize that losing control of my magic would be far less dangerous than letting her see how badly I need her.

Underthrall has always bent pressure to my will.

Celeste Ardin might be the first force that breaks me instead.

Underthrall is the fifth book in an interconnected romantasy series, where each installment follows a different couple within the same emotionally chaotic friend group. Expect returning characters, evolving relationships, layered magic systems, and romance arcs that continue unfolding across the series.