And I’m still pinned, still helpless, watching my death close in from every angle.
My hand finally closes around the hilt of my dagger. I yank it free, the blade singing as it clears the sheath, and I bare my teeth at the first person who gets too close.
“Come on then!” My voice rips out, feral and broken. “Let’s see who bleeds first!”
But there are too many. Too many bodies, too many blades, too much magic crackling in the air. I’m one person, held down by invisible chains, with nothing but a knife and rage.
This is it.
This is how I die.
Not on Exile Island. Not in battle. But here, in a glittering ballroom, betrayed by the one person I finally let in.
Movement at the edge of my vision. Legend, still walking away, Arabella on his arm.
He pauses. Just for a second. Glances back over his shoulder.
Our eyes lock one last time.
Then everything goes black.
Chapter Thirty-One
Haide
Darkness clings to me as the portal sucks me dry.
This one isn’t like the others. This onechews. My bones grind against one another. My skin peels back in strips. My blood boils in my veins before freezing solid. I canfeelit—the magic isn’t just moving me. It’stastingme. Savoring the way I scream.
Good, I think, bile burning my throat.Let it hurt. Let it all fucking hurt.
Because pain is better than the alternative. Pain means I’m still here. Stillme. Not some broken, pathetic thing left sobbing on the floor while Legend Deveraux fucks hisrealmate in front of an entire court.
The image sears through me—his hands onher, his mouth onher, the way he looked at me like I was nothing. Like I waslessthan nothing. A stain. A mistake. A fuckingwitch.
My vision whites out and then I’m falling until my back slams into something hard. Stone. Cold. The impact knocks the breath from my lungs, but I don’t gasp.
Laughter rips from my throat, raw, as I cough, hand on my stomach. Motherfucker! Blood. My own. Slips down my throat.
Consciousness drags me up from the black, my face pressing against volcanic rock, and the familiar bite of Exile Island’s dust grinding between my teeth.
Home.
The word should bring comfort. Instead, it tastes like betrayal.
Boots come into view first. Leather, dusty and loosely tied to his feet. My eyes move up his body.
Smoke twists around him, thick and black, clinging like it’s part of him.
Rusted metal melts over his chest, dripping down his abs in uneven streaks, and I follow it all the way to where it covers his face, leaving his mouth and eyes visible. Red fucking eyes peer at me from above, his mouth twitching in a way that draws my attention to how soft they look against everything else.
That’s when I notice them. I suck in a breath. Dark, jagged horns stab up to the sky on each side of his head.
Holy hell, that is fucked up. Who the hell is this?
My throat locks. I force a swallow—fuck, he’s huge.Good. Bigger targets are easier to hit.
His gaze burns like a brand pressed to my skin. My teeth grind, jaw screaming, but I don’t blink. Don’t flinch.
