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His lips find mine again. And the world below my estate shifts as though awakening to something new.

FIFTY

“I spent years searching for eternity, for conquest…only to find empty beginnings.”

— DR. KIERAN LAZARUS

Is there a power more exceptional than knowing yourself? Truly. Down to the marrow, in between all of the fat and irrelevant anatomical things we don’t think about.

The book tells me I am another woman. This world tells me I’m Marisa. Just Marisa. A young woman on the verge of a cliff deciding whether or not she should continue jumping blindly.

Kissing Christian is electrifying—what might be our last kiss.

I would have believed when I first arrived here that Kieran would be the one in his position right now. Is it wrong to think about this as his rough hands grip my body tightly to his? Absolutely not. Both men, I knew, were willing participants in this entire situation.

Outside, the storm settles. Inside my chest is a tempest. Christian’s words are cryptic, but we’re running on borrowed time.

Before I can register what’s happening, two cold hands snake around my ankle and tugs hard, and I slip from Christian’s grip. A scream stifles in my throat. Christian dashes for me, but the creature’s strength is smoother and faster than his. I kick as hard as I can to no avail. Sharp jutted rocks slice through my jacket, serrating deep into muscle; I can feel the blood cementing itself within the cave.

The rain soaks me in seconds, and as I twist to get a view of where the demon’s taking me to, I see hundreds of swaying demon bodies forming a chain around the lake. Gone are the sounds of the hunt and replaced is a gentle buzz that permeates through the air. They’re whispering something.

Open your eyes. Open your eyes. Open your eyes.

Craning my neck, I realize Christian is no longer following. The cave’s mouth closes slowly, sizzling as it does like a wound being cauterized.

“Christian!” My voice shatters, panic settling deep into my bones.

“Open your eyes,” the demon speaks. Its face transforms to a beautiful woman, olive skin and warm hazel eyes, a face haloed now by an interpolation of a sunny day. I know her. Who is she?

“Your body is being used against your will. All of you are. You need to wake up now.” Her face changes. It’s Daisy’s. She says something I can’t decipher.

I twist, and shove back into the ground hoping to use my weight to tug the demon into me. If it falls it could loosen its hold. But it keeps going, pulling me up the incline of where I know the other side of the lake is, and down until cold water slips under my jacket and up my back.

“Where are you taking me?” My weapons are sealed within the cave. Again I am prisoner to evils beyond my understanding.

Into the pond, the demon answers.

My heart roars with anticipation. This is where I die. This is where it ends.

You can’t die if this is only your soul. Its voice is in my head.

The demons close in on the pond, their bodies forming a cage around the area. Soon, I am submerged beneath a layer of dismembered bodies, silver ribbons gliding past me. My breath hitches in my throat. The demon releases me, but my body floats gently toward the rusted chain twisting around in the murky water. There is no light source from above, yet everything is clear beneath its surface. A stray eyeball thunks me in the forehead, rolling backward around my head and tangling in my hair. The demon turns to face me, reaching a hand toward my throat. Fighting back is useless against the water pressure, and the science of this world works against me.

A frisson of light emerges from its hands, and from above the bodies that formed the circle all dive headfirst into this dark abyss.

Breathe.

Its voice is clear but I don’t acknowledge its request.

The demon squeezes tight and a stream of black ichor streams from my mouth outward and twirls around the chain, tugging it toward me and gently placing it within my reach. Chains wind their way around my hands, and I plant my hands on it, gripping tightly.

Breathe.

And I do. I inhale and find that I’m not drowning on the sticky tar that mixes in with the murky waters. The demons swarm me, pushing me along the chain, and slowly, I float along, seeing clearer as I reach the bottom. Dust clears. There’s a cylindrical chamber attached to the other end of the chain, inside it is filled with that same black ichor filled to the top, cloaking whatever could lay inside.

Use the key.

Retrieving the key from my boot proves difficult, but eventually I’m able to grasp it. The skinny handle twirls between my fingers.