If she was dead, I wouldn’t still be alive.
She must be here somewhere.
“Anzelika?” I ask, fighting the strange panic rising deep in my gut.
She’s just a pathetic little human. I shouldn’t care what happens to her.
Idon’tcare.
But I can feel it already, the life force draining from the cuff at my wrist, out through the magical link connecting us.
Wherever she is, she’s in trouble.
And if I don’t want to die, I’d better find her.
Fast.
Glancing around, everything is in its place.
Everything—
But one thing.
The book.
There on her shelf, its pages flutter softly where it’s fallen open.
I swear under my breath, storming over to it as I stare down into the glowing pages.
15
The Hot Guy to the Rescue
Ziros
No.
No, it can’t be. She can’t be in there, in the prison meant for me.
Can she?
But even as I try to deny it, I can feel her magic being pulled in. What a sick, strange trap her ancestor made.
It’s meant for someone like me, not a human.
I endured it for centuries, but a human might only survive minutes.
I’ve got to get her out.
“Anzelika,” I whisper, picturing her face. I’m no sorcerer. All I know is the magic I was born with.
I don’t know what the hell I’m doing, but this has to work.
It’s all I’ve got.
“Anzelika,” I repeat, louder this time, again and again until I’m practically screaming it, until wind rages through the apartment all around me. “Anzelika!”
I’ve got no desire to set foot back in that prison. All I want is to be free.
