I glanced up at the door, where I was certain he watched me. There was no glass to see out of, but I had a feeling he was there. Maybe even my traitorous mate stood with him.
The numbness washed over me like the armour it became. The icy air couldn’t penetrate something that didn’t evenfeelanymore. As badly as I wanted to focus on anything else, I embraced it. Welcomed the nothingness it offered me.
Dante wouldn’t get to see me beg. He would never get to see me cry or scream again. I wasn’t entirely sure I had it in me to care.
He had me right where he wanted me, but that meant nothing if I died.
Death wouldn’t be so bad if it put a kink in his plans.
The runes around the doorframe lit up before going out one by one. It didn’t take long for the door to swing open. Thistime, though, I was greeted by not just Dante, but a small army.
A smile twisted his lips. “Good. You’re awake. Looks like Sable did a number on you,” he said, crossing his arms. Soldiers flooded the cell, all wearing the same grey gear. None of them had weapons. Maybe Dante heard my thoughts about stealing his gun, because not even he had anything on him.
I stared up at him, feeling nothing but the bite of cold. “I don’t know what you think Sable did, but she hasn’t done anything to me.”
The smile warped into something dark and sinister. “Oh, you have no idea.” He crouched in front of me like I was some kind of child he needed to get on the same level with. That summoned a flicker of rage. “But don’t worry. I’ll make sure to undo all those charms on you. See if we can unlock what she’s hidden.”
I didn’t get a chance to respond. Two guards stepped forward, and these ones…they didn’t appear to be brainwashed. No, these ones looked cruel. It darkened their eyes as they ripped me from the cold ground, and it shaped the smiles twisting their lips.
“The fun starts now,” Dante mused.
I knew it was useless fighting. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
My first ever vision flashed in my mind, a dark, terrifying reminder of what I had to look forward to under Dante’s control.
Nine dead mates. A cage built to hold me prisoner. Not a cell, but like an animal.
And pain.
12
Adrian
It was strange seeing these familiar faces standing before us when I knew Ivy should have been here to greet them. Vanya, her only friend from the academy, standing with her mother, Elara Blackwood. And with them was Blythe Windermere and her grandmother, Hilde.
I couldn’t ignore the tension coiling around me. It burrowed, tightening around my stomach, my lungs. Each breath made it worse, somehow making it burn.
I had no idea what Blythe would find if she looked into my head. And I didn’t want to know. How much damage had Dante done to me? Had he stolen memories? Replaced them with new ones? Had he done anything else to me, to my mate circle, that we didn’t know about?
How many times had he gained access to us, toIvy, while we were in Avalon without our knowledge?
I shuddered at the thought, at the invasion of his presence within my mind.
I fucking hated it.
I hatedhim.
“What do you want me to do, exactly?” Blythe asked. Her voice ripped me out of my thoughts, forcing me back to the present and what was to come.
Rowan, who wouldn’t look me in the eye—hadn’t since hecalled me out—spoke up. “We need you to go through each of our heads and find any sign of Dante. He admitted to being in Adrian’s head, but he could have influence over all of us. We want it out and new blocks formed.”
I could barely look at him, not with the shame swelling within me. Slowly, I released a shuddering breath. “He used me to take Ivy. I need you to get himout,” I said through gritted teeth, unable to hide my desperation. “I want you to find any trace of his influence and destroy it.”
The throne room fell silent at my declaration. Not with surprise, but maybe pity.
I didn’t deserve their pity. Not with the guilt eating me alive every day we didn’t get Ivy back.
Beside me, Elias sighed. “You will also need to enter my memories,” he told Blythe, voice stiff. “And unlock ones from my childhood.”
