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I tried to wriggle free of the nightmare that held onto me with claws—the same claws that had dug into my shoulders when the monster had grabbed me.
That hadn’t been Ren. It had been exactly what I’d seen—a monster.
I became aware of my quarters, of my bedroom, and I wasn’t alone.
Somethingwas here with me, and with it came the darkness that could force itself into beings, darkness that took over.
“Who’s there?” I asked.
A deep voice chuckled, and I curled in fear.
“You’re sharp for a human,” the voice said, and a shadow stepped from the darkness. The terror that came with his every movement was so much stronger than anything I felt. In a dream or otherwise. This was dark magic.
And this male, standing in front of me…
“You’re a Conjurite,” I gasped in horror.
He chuckled, and the sound of it rubbed up against my skin, slick and warm, like spit. I rubbed my arms, trying to get rid of the feel of the sound.
“You’re not stupid, I’ll give you that. Usually, you humans are so oblivious it’s fucking pathetic. But you…you’re different. Pity I’ll have to kill you.”
“Why would you want to do that?” I asked.
Slowly, I climbed out of bed. The fear was still there, ever-present, coiled in the pit of my stomach. But I was thinking clearly. The worst was wearing off. This was what my training was for—so that I could think straight when my usual response would have been fight-or-flight. Or freeze, in this case.
“I don’twantto do it,” the shadow said. “But these are my orders. I’m sure you understand how it works when you’re told to do something, and you’ve pledged your loyalty, you do what you need to do.”
I needed to keep him talking. As long as he was talking—and the bad guys justlovedto monologue—I could ready myself for a fight.
“Who sent you?” I demanded.
The shadow laughed again. “I know what you’re doing. You’re trying to distract me. You’re banking on the fact that I love the sound of my own voice. But you see…I don’t fall for parlor tricks.”
“And yet, you hide away in the darkness, so no one can see who you are. Talk about a parlor trick,” I said.
He hesitated for a moment. I could almost feel him draw his breath.
“Fine,” he said, sounding pissed. He stepped forward and into the light of the moon that fell through the window.
Darkness still danced at the edge of my vision, his magic painfully clear. This dark magic wasn’t power I could block—not the way I had to, to save my life. This hunter had nearly killed Ren, the most powerful Fae of all.
Fear bloomed in the pit of my stomach again, escaping from the tight coil I tried to keep it wound up in. I forced myself to breathe, to think straight. Panicking wouldn’t help. It would only get me killed.
When he stood in the moonlight, I frowned.
That stature, that face…
I flashed back on a reflection in the metal siding of an arena, a fight with a monster that felt like it had taken place ages ago.
“Zander?” I gasped.
That took him aback. He didn’t expect me to know who he was.
“You killed King Rainier’s father,” I added, shocked that it was him and suddenly furious at what he’d done to Ren. When I’d been brought to the palace originally, I had been in this Fae’s body.
“Yeah, well, what did I tell you about loyalty?”
This time, he didn’t wait for me to answer or to ask more questions that would stall for time. He’d been in control all this time. He lunged at me—an attack that came with a burst of magic so powerful it took my breath away. I felt like I was in a furnace, with heat dancing on my skin. I was sure it would burn off my clothes, singe all the hair on my head, leave me naked and raw and terrified.
