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“Impossible,” my mother croaks. “I saw you die.”

“I’ve died many times.” I shrug as I prowl closer and stand in front of my mates, facing my enemies. My powers fill me, and my phoenix responds with glee as I saunter towards my mother and her huddled mate.

The icy floor melts under my feet as I walk, flames licking at my skin as I stop before them. My mother backs away, and I smile at Bodhi. “Now, where were we? Oh yes, you thought I was weak.” Reaching down to where he fell, I pick him up by the throat and toss him across the room like he threw me. I laugh as flames flow across my skin, my dress billowing out as I saunter over to him and lift him once more. I squeeze his throat as he struggles, trying to use his pathetic muscles to slap me away. I want him to feel everything I did all those years ago.

I want him to understand how he hurt all those girls as he stares into my eyes and knows it will end with me.

He hoarded power and money made by making females suffer, and now he shall die at the hands of one.

“Stop!” My mother reaches for me with her power, the black magic hurtling towards me in defence of her mate. I simply let it hit my chest, absorb it, then stare at her with glowing eyes as arms wrap around her. Before she can fight, she is hauled back to her throne and pinned, unable to move or use her magic as my mates hold her for me.

Despite all her talk and power, she’s still weak when it comes to her mate.

Dropping the pathetic excuse for a man, I watch him stagger on his feet, his face red and purple as he gasps for air. He lifts his head and opens his mouth to speak, so I simply backhand him. His head whips around from the force, and when he looks at me, I do it again. I slap him over and over until he’s crying and cowering on the floor—pathetic, weak, and unworthy of all the suffering he has caused.

“Oriana!” my mother yells, her voice filling the room as ice continues to flow from the sky, but it simply melts, my fire overwhelming it. I once thought she was invincible, but the truth is, not even all the black magic in the world can defeat a phoenix like me. I was born from the ashes of suffering and pain, betrayed, lost, left behind, and crushed under that weight until a glittering diamond appeared. She made me into this, and now she will have to live with that. Death is too quick for her. I want her to suffer for years like I did.

For someone who put power before everyone else, she will finally learn what true power is.

“Oriana, stop!” she bellows, as if she truly believes she has any standing over me.

“Didn’t I tell you? Oriana is dead. She burned in the flames and turned to ash, and that ash created me.” I chuckle as I stroll towards Bodhi as he scrambles backwards, crawling along the floor to escape me.

Giant shards of ice protrude all around me, separating me from Bodhi, and I spare my mother an eye roll. Throwing out my arms, I let my phoenix flames engulf me, watching happily as they melt all the ice she can curate in seconds. I step through puddles and arch an eyebrow at her. “Weak,” I call before turning to Bodhi once more.

Lifting him back to his feet, I stare into his mottled face. “You should have tried harder to kill me. Leave me alive and well . . .” I grin as I thrust my hand into his chest, punching through bone and sinew and gripping his heart. He gasps and struggles as I tighten my hold on it, stopping it from beating. “Tell me everything—the locations and the people who are part of this horrendous trade of women. Now.” I tighten my grip until he is pale. “Or you’ll feel your heart burn in your chest. It’s a horrible way to go. I’ll make sure of it.”

He values his life above all else, so when it comes down to it, self-preservation will win over his hatred of me. He clung to my mother, his mate, all these years as a shield, but now he has nothing left to trade bar knowledge. I squeeze harder as blood drips down my arm, hissing in the flames aching to burn him alive.

“On the outskirts of Vigil,” he rasps, watching the crawling flames with terror. “There’s an outpost. I only transport them there. The men I hired are the ones who sell them. They will know the rest. I swear, that’s all, please. I’m telling the truth.”

“I know you are. I can feel it,” I whisper seductively, pulling my hand from his chest. I smile, and he crumples, shaking and defeated. He’s weak, so fucking weak. Blood soaks his chest as he covers the wound, struggling to stay alive, but he’s not dead yet. A quick death is too good for him.

Turning to my mother, I meet her distressed eyes as she shakes her head, imploring me not to do this. When I step away from him, I see her relief as she sags, and I allow her a moment of hope before I leap into the air, changing as I do. A flaming legend squawks above them, a phoenix, and I dive at the crowd before circling above him. Bodhi tries to run, slipping in his blood, but I stalk him, and as he nears the door, I flap my wings, sending a tidal wave of flame at him.

It engulfs him as he screams a horrible, high-pitched sound as he staggers and turns, burning alive, whipping around in hysteria. My mother tries to cover him in ice, but I land in the path of her magic and block him with my wings. His scream turns to an animalistic sound as he falls to his knees and then to his back. The scent only makes me gleeful as I turn to her, knowing he is done. Her ice hits me countless times as she screams, but it thaws as I move closer to her. Each step melts the ice in the room, and when I’m in front of her, her magic is spent and she’s dripping wet and powerless. I watch my mother clutch her chest as her mate’s dying cries fill the room, then I stand before her as her daughter, the one she betrayed.

Grabbing her away from my men and her throne, I toss her into the pools of water and stand above her as she remains there, broken and weak, staring up at the monster she made.

Bodhi’s cries are quiet now, the stench of burning human flesh making others gag. Not me, I revel in it.

If she had loved me and believed me, we wouldn’t be like this, but I guess destiny has plans for us all.

“Are you going to kill your own mother?” she asks as she kneels.

I look down at her and I feel nothing. No pity or love, nothing.

With what strength she has left, she shields herself from the breaking mate bond and certain death. I guess Hel Draven’s power is good for something. Like mother, like daughter.

“No, that is your people’s choice, not mine. This was never my home and never will be. I just came back to finish what I started.” I shrug. I won’t kill her, so she will have to face her court and their punishment. They might have followed her out of fear up until now, but with the truth exposed and their children taken, I believe they will turn on her as easily as they did on me.

Leaving her to her fate, I look at my mates and walk towards them, unsure what to say.

“Your blood oath is broken with my death and his. You are free,” I tell them, tilting my chin back. “I didn’t know the bond would snap back into place. I guess our mating transcends death.”

Bram smiles this secretive smile that seems older than him. “Scorpions can alter time. I just never wanted to before. I kept hold of the bond in the past and dragged it to the future.”

I blink at him, for once truly seeing the monster he could be.