The light imploded inward before bursting outward in a violent surge that rippled across the floor like a shockwave, forcing the nearest onlookers back a step as the circle shattered entirely. Fragments of fading green light scattered through the air before dissolving into nothing.
Where the cage had once stood seconds before, there was now only fractured marble and the faint haze of heat rising from the broken spell work.
The Kobalos did not hesitate.
The instant the final strand of magic collapsed, he vanished, his body dissolving from the center of the circle as though he had never been there at all. The space he had occupied snapped closed behind him with a sharp distortion in the air.
Silence followed.
Absolute.
Even the music had stopped.
The entire room had frozen in place. Every demon present stared toward the shattered marble beneath our feet, their expressions ranging from shock to something far closer to fear.
As for the cause, Eliza’s body had gone still within my hold. The heat that had surged through her moments before was now receding rapidly. As though whatever power had erupted from her had withdrawn just as suddenly as it had appeared.
My grip loosened slightly. Not to release her, but to move her. My hand slid from her waist to her upper arm, my fingers closing firmly around it as I turned her toward me with controlled force. When her eyes lifted to mine, I saw the truth instantly.
Shock.
Pure, unguarded shock. There was no triumph there. No awareness of what she had just done. Which meant only one thing… she had no idea what she had done or how she had achieved it.
Around us, unease rippled through the crowd. Where curiosity had filled the room moments earlier, something else now threaded through the atmosphere of Veneficus. Fear, but not of me…of her.
I felt it in the way they watched her now. The subtle tension running through the demons who had once viewed her merely as a mortal curiosity standing beside their ruler. My jaw tightened as I studied her face, the silver light in my eyes flaring brighter despite the steady rhythm of my breathing.
“You didn’t know that would happen.” The words left me quietly. Not a question, but a statement. Because the truth had already settled into place within my mind. She swallowed hard, her pulse racing visibly beneath the delicate lines of her throat.
“I don’t know,” she said softly, and the admission struck deeper than any denial could have. The power she had unleashed hadn’t been intentional.
It had been instinct.
Something ancient, buried deep within her, had reacted to my judgment. That had shattered the spell without her even understanding what she had done.
My hand closed around her arm more tightly then as I pulled her against me, the movement firm enough that she stumbled the final half step into my chest.
Up close, the energy around her was unmistakable now. Not mortal. Not demon. But something far older than either. Something I hadn’t felt in centuries.
My gaze searched her face with a focus far sharper than anger alone, studying every flicker of confusion and disbelief written across her expression. The truth continued to assemble itself,piece by piece, inside my mind. The ancient words. The broken circle. The power that had answered her command. All of it pointed toward a conclusion that should have been impossible.
Yet she stood before me now, trembling slightly in my arms. As though she were nothing more than a frightened mortal woman who had wandered into a world she did not understand. Which was why I lowered my voice as the final question formed…
“What are you… my little Siren?”
3
OWNED
ELIZA
What was I?
That was what he asked me.
And the problem with that was…I didn’t know.
I had no clue how I had freed Bo. No clue how I had generated such power. I was mortal, wasn’t I? Which meant I shouldn’t possess any supernatural gifts, especially not ones capable of summoning demons, opening portals, or cracking stone as easily as I cracked my morning eggs. I shouldn’t have been able to do any of it. And yet, here I was, standing face to face with an angry demonic overlord I had apparently just pissed off by destroying his magic.
