The betrayal hit harder than any blade could have. Worse than the oath. Worse than the stranger’s threats.
Because she was laughing, and in that sound, my world was crumbling.
I swallowed hard, forcing myself to stay calm, to fight against the fire that began to build in my veins. Not because I didn’t want to burn this fucking place to the ground, but because I needed answers. I needed to know why.
How... why?
“Let him go?” The Master swiped at his eyes like I’d said the funniest thing he’d ever heard, wrenching me back into the moment. “My dear girl, he’s not a prisoner. He’s exactly where he should be. Where he was born to be. And once you break the oath, you will be free of all of this mess. You may leave unscathed. Not a pretty red hair on that head will be harmed. I offer you freedom, Syneca Black. But only once.”
I finally turned to Vitoria, meeting her crystal-clear eyes. “Tell them. Tell them to let him go. Please.”
Vitoria stepped forward. The friend I’d known was gone. This was someone else wearing her face now. Someone cruel. “Come on, Synnie. Think really hard about what’s happening here.” She stopped in front of me. “Who was the only person whohadto join the hunt because he was the last of his kind? I had needed him from the beginning. The Heartless One. The Rune Eater with a Heart Stone embedded in his chest.” She gestured towardCalder’s glowing sternum. “The perfect messenger between worlds. The perfect anchor. The perfect key.”
Key?
Between worlds.
But the only other world I knew of was the Underworld. A place locked away by the Furies when they escaped after the fourth demon prince killed the fourth Fury sister. That’s what Aureth had said. That was the only truth. They couldn’t possibly mean they meant to enter the Underworld. Meant to speak with a real demon.
The Oracle’s warning crashed through my mind with devastating clarity.The one who will offer you your freedom, remember that no prison is meant to hold forever.
I stumbled backward, my eyes snapping to the Master. To the mark on his neck.
Not a man. Not even close.
The throne room tilted. Or maybe that was just me.
A demon. And from the way he held court, I’d wager he was a prince.
We’d fucking walked into a demon prince’s city, and he had Calder, and Vitoria had been working for him all along, and?—
“Now.” His voice cracked like a whip. “You will break the oath that fool Tiberius Veyne bound you to. You will free yourself and your companions. Or you will die. And I will find you in the Underworld and unleash torments on you that will make death seem like mercy. I will peel your soul apart layer by layer. I will remake you into something that screams for eternity and never finds peace in silence.”
His hand gripped my chin, forcing me to meet his eyes. “Break the oath, Syneca Black. Or learn what true suffering means.”
He squeezed so hard I could feel where the bruise would be.
I pulled the vial from my pocket with shaking hands. Vitoria’s blood—willingly given. A gift from a friend who’d never been a friend at all.
“The Oracle isn’t here,” I said, voice steadier than I felt. “She witnessed the binding. We need her to?—”
“You need nothing.” His grip released, leaving my jaw throbbing. “My power supersedes whatever she witnessed. I am older than the fate she follows. Speak your little spell, witch. Release what was bound. Or die where you stand.”
I looked at the vial. At Vitoria just standing there. At Calder, empty-eyed and lost. At my companions who’d followed me into this nightmare.
Wickett, who wouldn’t meet my eyes. He didn’t want this, of course. But he couldn’t fault me, could he? Not when I clearly had no choice. And then there was Pip, who gripped the edge of her cloak so tight, she was shaking with fear. I just wanted to grab her and run away.
Silas was gone, though I felt his anger through our connection like it was born within me first. I didn’t need to search to know where he was. Hidden in the shadows, sitting in the most optimal position to strike, should I need it. But he was smart, and every bit the hunting feline, crouched and waiting for the perfect moment. Through him alone, I found strength I didn’t know I had.
This bastard couldn’t break me. And I’d burn this fucking city to the ground before I let Vitoria get away with trapping Calder.
But I would do it on my terms. Just like Silas.
Sliding my hands into my pockets, I withdrew two vials—one of blood, one of water—and uncorked both. I drew Vitoria’s blade from the strap on my thigh, the same dagger that had been used in the binding, the one she’d buried into Eda Mire’s back. The three elements that had bound us would be the three that freed us. Only this time it would be with her blood and not ours.
I didn’t know how to do this. Didn’t know the ritual or the words or the precise requirements for breaking a blood oath. And he must have known that because the demon prince’s voice slid into my mind like oil, guiding without asking permission.Draw the circle first. Open the way. You know the word.
I hated that he was right. Hated that I needed his guidance. Hated everything about everything.
