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“Enough,” Leo said, voice cold. He lifted his hand, and I thought he might hurt her, but he only snapped his fingers, and Sigrid froze in place. Cal, too.

I looked around the room to find the rest of the human guards frozen as well, eyes glazed over like zombies.

Leo had their minds. Without the use of his magic.

Leo looked at me, at the surprise on my face. “Neat trick, huh? Mind control can be pre-programmed. Activated by a simple command.” He laughed at his cleverness. “So, what’s it going to be, Bryn? Are you going to let your brother die in vain?”

Hunter’s eyes flashed to mine, and I saw the reassurance there. He would gladly give his life to stop this tyrant from gaining the upper hand on me.

But I wouldn’t allow it. My brave brother wouldn’t be killed because of me.

Before I could respond, shrieking came from the entryway. A signal something was happening outside that wasn’t in the Decodons’ favor.

I found my strength from the distraction, then found my fucking nerve. “Your trick is neat, Leo. And your bring your day-wielding betrothed back to One plan—solid. I could see how someone of your pedigree would find it foolproof. Damn near flawless. The kind orphan-king, offering me a life that was too incredible to pass on.”

Leo looked unsure as I continued. The noise outside growing louder as more creatures rushed out of the room, and toward the disturbance outside.

“You pushed me into Delirium,” I said, my voice furious, “convinced me it was what I wanted, when it was really what you needed.” I shook my head. “You were patient, I’ll give you that. Staging a Decodon attack to rescue me from Six. Giving me the freedom to choose my future but guiding me just enough in the direction you needed me to go. Even going so far as creating the charade of checking the portals, acting the worried king, when you were controlling the narrative to this horrific story all along.

“But you forget that although you are powerful, the Earth is almighty. She gave me back the powers you needed, but she also gave me something else. Something just for me.”

Fear shone next to the darkness in Leo’s eyes as he realized all was not what it seemed.

He wasn’t the only puppeteer pulling the strings in this room.

And it made me smile.

I should win an award for the performance I had just put on.

I had been stalling.

Waiting.

“She gave me back my memories, Leo.”

He stepped back at that. His eyes darting around the room as he tried to figure out how he could save his plan from unraveling.

“You thought of everything,” I spat out. “Anticipated every outcome, I’m sure. But there was one thing you could’ve never planned for . . .”

The commotion had moved from outside to inside the Dome, and with it came the footsteps I had been waiting for.

I’d felt him the second he came through the portal and approached the Dome with an army of his own. I’d just been buying him the time he needed to get here.

With my memories restored, I’d inventoried every feeling in my chest, properly assessing what I felt, and for whom. Even without magic, I had felt him. Not where my soul lay touched by Leo’s shadows, but directly in my heart, that belonged to him.

As Adrian stepped inside the room, I smiled as Leo’s face fell.

“You could’ve never planned for my husband coming to end you once and for all.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

BRYN

Twenty-Six Years Earlier

Early morning rays of sunlight streaked through the windows, dancing along the far wall of my husband’s room.

Husband.