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I hold onto his arms as he starts to move, jerkily and slowly, sliding one hand down my back to hold me tighter, and then we move faster and faster until laughter erupts from my throat as the room blurs. He lifts me up into the air so I hang above him, grinning before he spins me out and down.

I am twirled into Raiden’s waiting arms. Surprising me, he moves me around the cleared space with ease, twirling and dipping me with a grin until I laugh. My dress flares out, like flames eating the air, and people have no choice but to step back, gasping in shock.

“Having a mate isn’t so bad if you can cause mischief together,” he admits, making me grin before arms slide around my waist and turn me. Kitt’s eyes are hard, but he starts to move, cautiously and overcomplicated. He’s definitely overthinking it, but I don’t care. I lean into his strength as we move until we slow down.

My hand rests on his chest as we rock in a gentle sway. “Are you okay?” he whispers.

“Just having one last moment of peace before what is to come.”

“And what is to come?” he murmurs, and I lift my head. He’s trying to read it through the mate bond, but I throw up walls, blocking him.

“The ugly truth.” Leaning up, I lay a gentle kiss on his lips to soften the blow. He reaches for me and deepens the kiss until I’m left gasping and pulling away.

“We are with you,” he promises, no doubt realising I’m about to do something.

“This is something I need to do alone. Just be ready.”

I turn away, letting go of all those soft, happy feelings and embracing the fire that consumes me—the anger that has been burning since I was a teenager, when I realised the true depths of darkness within a person.

I meet my mother’s mate’s gaze across the room, where he has been watching me the entire time, and blow him a kiss before turning away. I’m building his anticipation, making him stupid and scared.

Men make mistakes when they are scared.

Weak men will sign their own death warrant when scared.

When enough time has passed so as not to seem suspicious, I duck behind the entrance next to the throne, which leads to the small alcove my mother uses to conduct business away from prying eyes. I lean back into the wall like I’m taking a moment to catch my breath, and then Bodhi appears, his eyes hard.

All traces of weakness and kindness are gone. He plays the fool well for the coven and my mother, but this is the true Bodhi. He waves his hand behind him, and the curtain turns to ice, sealing us in and blocking sight and sound, but I expected it.

“You are a fool for coming back here,” he hisses. “You should have stayed there and died. Do you know how many times I had to hire people? How much money I wasted on you?” He advances on me, his hand connecting with my face in a brutal slap as he grabs my throat and tosses me deeper into the alcove.

I let him push me into the curtain and press my fingers to it. Some of my phoenix rises to the surface, and my dress lifts and flitters with flames, but I feel it heat the ice. I move forward, backing him up and around so his back is to the now melting ice screen and the ball beyond.

What better way to expose the truth than to quite literally show them?

My mother can deny me in private, but forced in public, she will have no choice.

“Clearly the ones you hired weren’t good enough,” I taunt.

“No, clearly not. Mates, your fucking mates? I’ll kill them next for failing their contract, but first, I’m going to deal with you.” The band stops playing as I twitch my fingers, the last of my magic filling me as I cast a spell my mother always tried to make me master.

I project the volume of this room like she projects her voice when she speaks. I might be a phoenix, but I am the daughter of a dark mage, and he should have remembered that.

I see every single person turn to watch as he slams me into the wall. “You foolish, nosey little bitch. Did you really think coming back here would help? Your mother didn’t believe you back then, and she won’t now. I am important here. All those fools are blinded by me. You’re nothing, just the daughter she didn’t want that’s too stupid to even die.”

“Why?” I ask, my voice tight from the pressure of his hand, but honestly, I’ve had rougher sex than his attack, though I pretend to be weak. “How did you hide it all along? How did you cover up your crimes? You owe me that at least.” I feed into his ego, stroking his power that my mother tries to crush, knowing it will work. He’s so predictable and weak.

His lips twitch as he runs his eyes over me, and disgustingly, some appreciation heats his gaze, warring with his anger. I have to force myself not to rip him to pieces here and now.

“When everyone overlooks you, it’s easy. We have so many weak, forgettable, young female mages coming here to train under your mother. When they are forgotten or tossed aside, I lure them away, and then my colleagues and I splice them with black magic. Yes, that’s right, little fool. I have magic as well, and it’s stronger than even that stupid mate of mine knows. We splice some with monsters, whatever the highest bidder wants. Do you know how many girls we stole during your time in Gehenna? Hundreds. You stopped nothing, and you won’t stop anything now. I should have killed you back then, but I won’t make the same mistake twice.”

I let his words sink into the people beyond as I stare at him with dead, unfeeling eyes. “You think killing me will stop anyone from finding out?”

“I don’t need to stop them. Your mother knows. She’s just too blinded to notice I am still doing it, too full of herself to let it hurt her precious reputation. Your death is just a bonus. Nobody would believe you. You’re nothing but a criminal to them. I made sure of it,” he hisses, his face twisted and rotting with greed and hatred—the face of evil, even more evil than those I shared hell with. “You came back for nothing, Oriana Draven.”

I knew death was inevitable, a small price to pay for my revenge. I see the moment he decides how to do it. I don’t even fight, but it’s hard.

I promised myself the tenth time I died and lost everything that I would never die again, but here I am, voluntarily letting myself be killed to prove a point. The truth is worth it.