“Your blood and your soul, hunter.That’swhat I need…”
My eyes snapped open as the last wisps of fog dissipated from my mind. Jonathan had taken Asher and me prisoner, shot Asher full of deadly nanotech—an internal devil’s trap. Though I didn’t believe him, he’d told me in gruesome detail how he’d tormented and killed the others. That he wanted me to join him on his sick, demented quest.
That he wanted my power. My ability to raise beings from the dead.
Asher and I… We…
Heat rushed to my cheeks asthatparticular memory danced through my mind. Despite the circumstances of our imprisonment, being with him like that—tasting his kiss, feeling him inside me, shattering with white-hot pleasure at his touch…
I shivered at the memory. Sex with Asher… It’d saved him.
In some ways, maybe it’d saved me, too.
Asher had given me the strength to do what needed to be done, no matter what the cost. After that, I’d attacked Jonathan and ripped out his soul, feeling it burn through me…
Holy shit.
I gasped as the realization hit me full on. I was in the Shadowrealm. Trapped, just as Liam had warned—my eternal punishment for breaking the natural order and banishing a soul here against his will.
But… that didn’t make sense. If Iwastrapped, that meant that I’d succeeded in bringing Jonathan’s soul here. My memories might’ve been slow to return, but I was almost positive I hadn’t passed through my magical realm this time, hadn’t walked that long and twisty path to the rune gate that separated my place from the Shadowrealm. That’s how it’d happened with Travis, the man who’d killed Bean in the alley—I’d dragged his soul to the gate, intending on bringing him through. The only reason he didn’t end up banished was that Liam stepped in and helped me see it wasn’t for the best. Not that time, anyway.
But now with Jonathan, it seemed I’d been deposited here directly. No magic realm, no rune gate, no last-minute chances to turn back.
A new realization hit me, as frightening as it was impossible.
It wasn’t just my soul trapped here, butallof me. Somehow, I’d physically manifested—I could feel it in the heavy weight of my steps, the press of gravity on my body, the sting of the fresh wounds on my palm.
Jonathan’s soul, which had burned like living fire inside me from the moment I’d taken it in, was no longer with me.
Gray…
I jumped to my feet and spun around, certain I’d heard my name, like a whisper on the hot, acrid wind.
“Hello?” I croaked out.
Get out of here, Gray…
I’dfeltit that time. A presence, followed immediately by the familiar scent of strawberries-and-cream.
“Sophie?” I asked, my heart already lifting with hope.
Goosebumps rose on my arms, the magic inside me flaring hot. Beneath my poorly-wrapped feet, the earth warmed, steam slithering out from hundreds of tiny cracks and crevices in the rock.
I closed my eyes, reaching out with my heart and mind and everything left inside me for any sign of Sophie, any way to connect with her.
An image flashed through my mind—but it wasn’t my best friend. Instead, I saw a red demon with horns, a forked tail, and the dark wings of a fallen angel, hopping across a scorched patch of earth. Blood dripped from his teeth and claws, and his eyes blazed with raw hatred.
It was the Devil card from Sophie’s tarot deck.
My eyes snapped open, but there was nothing around me but rock and smoke.
Move, Gray. Now…
Quickly, I readjusted my makeshift shoes and resumed my trek along the ridge, fighting off the dizziness that threatened to overtake me. I was dehydrated, and the magic which had unlocked my memories was now buzzing impatiently through my body, seeking an outlet.
And someone was trying to warn me. I couldn’t see her, but I could hear her. Feel her.
Faster, Gray…
