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“It doesn’t matter. She’s not here, and even if she were, you aren’t touching her.”

Kylian glares down at me. If he thinks I am just going to hand my sister over to this demon, he has lost his damn mind. “You’re not getting her. She isn’t a possession to own.”

Xavian watches my outburst calmly. “Oh?” There’s a dark amusement on his face, like this is all just a game. “Darling, that’s precisely what she is, locked up in a cage somewhere with a debt tied around her wrist, waiting for someone new to possess her. And if King Draven finds her first—”

“What do you want her for? Don’t pretend your reasons are to her benefit!” I spit.

There’s a low sound from Kylian as he buries one hand in my hair, dragging my head back so hard my eyes water.

“That’s enough,” he snarls. “Eagan, take her to the ship. Do not let her out of your sight until I return.”

Eagan doesn’t hesitate, his hands clamp on my arms, and before I can process what’s happening, he’s dragging me back toward the stone stairs. I thrash in Eagan’s grip, desperate to be heard. Sable isn’t an object. If I have to die to keep her from these monsters, I will.

“No!” I jerk my body hard enough my shoulder nearly pops as I try to twist free. “You’re not trading her! She’s not yours to give! We had a deal.”

White panic floods me, bright as lightning. My vision goes blurry with tears and rage. I aim a kick at Eagan’s shin, which makes him grunt and let me go. Then I’m lunging at the only person who could still stop this.

Kylian.

He’s so much bigger than me it’s laughable, but I’m not thinking rationally. I hit him in the chest, nails digging into fabric. I want to hurt him. I want to make him see Sable the way I do, even if I have to draw blood to do it.

“You disobeyed me. You risked your life and mine. And even now, you dare challenge me. Are you so eager to see what happens when I lose my patience?”

I open my mouth to reply when his gaze turns sinister, and his grip finds my hair again, pulling strands from my scalp.

“You don’t scare me enough to make me stand aside and hand her over,” I snap.

“Marvelous,” Xavian chuckles, stepping closer. “She’s the very image of her mother, isn’t she? I look forward to seeing what happens when your bond completes, Kylian. That power . . . Oh, it’s going to be extraordinary when it manifests completely.”

His arrogant words nearly make me scream. Instead, I let the anger grow. I welcome it, let it fill me until the blood in my veins heats up, crawling under my skin.

I dig my nails into Kylian’s wrist, glaring at Xavian. “Who says it hasn’t already?”

The bunker air gets even colder as I draw on my power. The blue flames on the walls of the room stutter then flare higher, burning brighter. I feel a low roll of heat ripple beneath the surface of my skin, first in my hands, then everywhere at once. The urge to unleash it is so strong my vision whites out for half a second. I’ve never felt the pull so strong before.

I could do it. I could burn all of this to ash if I let it out.

A pulse of energy rolls off my skin, so strong I gasp. The air tastes metallic, sharp with ozone.

Xavian steps back, his smile widening with surprise. “Oh, she has teeth, this one. I like her.”

The urge to lash out is overwhelming. I imagine fire racing from my palms, burning every monster in this room to bones and ash. The heat is so real my skin flushes and glows, my hands tremble, and I feel the current in my palms. Kylian doesn’t release his grip, but I can smell flesh burning. When my gaze lifts to him, his expression is murderous.

My body responds as his aura explodes violently, the instinct to submit warring with the need to fight back. The urge to tear, bite, and set the world alight surges higher.

“Think carefully, Alessia. If you do something stupid right now, you won’t make it off this island,” Kylian warns. His fury is evident, but he’s right. This isn’t Purgatory; this is the Demon King’s land. This place is swarming with demons who won’t hesitate to kill me should I harm their king.

But my rage is already too far gone, and the power beneath rises up through my veins in a hot, rolling tide that wants out. Because if I let it loose, then at least something in this world will finally burn for what it has taken from me.

The flames on the walls surge again, and for a breath, I swear the bunker itself groans under the pressure. Kylian’s hand tightens in my hair, and he slams me against the wall. The impact steals my breath, and before I can pull it back into my lungs, his mouth is on mine. Violent, punishing, and nothing like the slow, taunting touches he uses when he wants to toy with me. He’s trying to force me to submit.

I make a sound into his mouth that is equal parts fury and shock, and I shove at his chest just as my power spikes again. His body doesn’t give even an inch, and his other hand fists the fabric of my dress and drags it upward just enough that cold air hits my thigh. His leg wedges between mine, forcing my hips still, forcing my body to register him, and the betrayal of that is worse than the kiss because my mind is screaming no while my nerves light up anyway.

“Don’t,” he breathes against my mouth, his voice rough and shaking. His forehead presses into mine so hard it hurts. When he speaks again, the words scrape out, “Don’t make me do this, Alessia, don’t make me become the type of monster I hate.”

I blink up at him, dazed by the sudden shift. His eyes are burning with restraint, and for the first time, confusion cracks through my rage. I do not understand why he looks like he is the one being cornered.

Xavian drifts closer with the same lazy grace, and I hate how calm the man is. He watches me like I am a weapon he might like to borrow, and when his gaze flicks from my face to Kylian’s grip on me, something shifts in his expression. Not sympathy, but irritation.