Lyra.
His voice was a low hiss inside my mind, and I hurriedly checked my mental shields. My thorny brambles remained intact, and yet . . .
I’ve been looking for you, little huntress.
I nearly gagged at Kaden’s nickname for me snarled in his father’s voice.
My head pounded. I’d made a mistake invading Kaden’s mind.
Kaden wasn’t here.
It was only me and Semphrys.
How . . . interesting.The Dark King’s voice was steeped in smugness and more than a little disgust.A Coranthe witch and a filthy half-huntress. My son’smate.
My stomach bottomed out. This had been what Kaden had feared — that Semphrys would discover the truth about us.
Ofcoursehe knew after throwing open the bond between them and ransacking his son’s mind.
Panicking, I attempted to release Kaden’s tether to the Dark King, but my hands had become fused to the sticky, wretched mess.
I wondered why he would be so protective of you . . . No mongrel bitch would be worth what he suffered, no matter how much he might enjoy fucking you. I should have known there was another reason . . . How lovely that you have come to see me . . .
Bile burned the back of my throat as I felt his essence caress my skin. Shadows billowed around me as I tried to peel my palms out of the tarry black goo, but I’d become ensnared like an insect in his web.
Shit.
Kaden had warned me that this could happen. He’d said that those who tried to invade his mind often became lost in the shadows he commanded. But Kaden wasn’t the one who’d trapped me. I’d foolishly placed myself at the Dark King’s mercy.
Semphrys gave another low, cruel laugh, and Ireminded myself that I didn’twantto escape. I wanted to destroy this bond between them for good.
I tugged on the sticky black thread, but it was too strong. Unbreakable.
But maybe I didn’t need to sever it entirely. Maybe I just needed to find a way to close off the connection.
How had Velisara opened it in the first place?
Demons were immortal, so it stood to reason that the essence of the sire bond was equally indestructible. I couldn’t peel my hands away from the bond, which meant I couldn’t reach my witchwood blade — not that the mental construct of it would have made any difference.
But perhaps I could use something else.
Closing my eyes, I focused on where my hands wrapped around the sticky black bond and pictured heat blazing from my palms. I imagined flames hotter than hellfire lapping at the thread. Burning through it.
An acrid stench filled my nostrils, and when I looked down, blue flames had engulfed the bond.
A howl of agony rang in my ears — so loud it stole the air from my lungs.
Semphrys.
More shrieks joined the first — a chorus of thousands screaming in my ears. But I clung on.
My flames grew brighter, burning through that wretched connection. Melting it. Collapsing it.
And just like that, the screams abated.
Cautiously, I peeled my hands away from the bond and found a twisted, blackened segment that was much thinner than the rest. The bond was still intact, but it had been badly damaged.
The shadows around me began to dissipate, and then I felt him.
