The doors groan open behind him.
And there she is.
Led by maids in black, her gown a deep crimson second skin, her hair coiled back, lips painted the color of dried blood. Around her throat gleams the cursed choker we’ve come to destroy.
But it’s her eyes that strike like lightning.
The moment she steps into the room, she finds us—locks onto us. No hesitation. No fear. Just raw, electric knowing.
And I feel it. All at once. Her heartbeat. Her pain. Her fire.
She’s still in there. She hasn’t given up. Not yet.
And gods help Zepharion…
Because she’s not his.
She’s ours.
SEVENTY-EIGHT
The maids don’t speak as they lead me from my room. I don’t ask them to.
My feet are bare on the cold obsidian floors, my body wrapped in crimson silk that clings like blood. My hair is twisted into a regal crown of thorns, silver pins biting into my scalp. A symbol, maybe. Or a warning.
I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to belong to him.
My stomach churns as the throne room doors loom ahead. My fists clench, nails carving crescents into my palms. I don’t know where my mates are. I don’t even know if they’re alive.
The doors open. And then I see them.
Deimos. Cassiel. Bastion.
Seated in the front like sacrificial offerings dressed as guests. And Zepharion—waiting at the altar, smug and radiant in robes of bone and fire. He takes my hand with performative flourish.
But I don’t see him. Don’t hear his words dripping like oil.
I see them. Only them.
My heart slams. My knees nearly buckle.
“Stay calm.” The voice whispers through the bond—Cassiel, steady as stone.
My gaze flickers to him.
“We’re here for you,” he says. “But you have to stay calm. Don’t give him any reason to suspect.”
“I’m scared,” I whisper back, though I don’t know if it’s aloud. “I don’t want to be bound to him.”
“You won’t be,” he answers instantly. “I promise.”
I breathe. Once. Twice. Zepharion lifts both my hands in his, and the world splits.
The throne room vanishes.
Shadow swallows everything. The air smells of rain and old power. Cold that slides beneath the skin, settling into bone.
And then—someone appears.
