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As much as Layne was right, I tuned him out. This was my moment. My time to do whatever the fuck I wanted to this demon of a man. I was going to take my time and enjoy every second he had left to live until I stole his very last breath.

Leaning into him, my breath grazed his ear as I said, “You said I was different from all the other girls, right?” I purred.

Preston’s eyes fluttered as he let out a low moan. “Fuck yeah, you are,” he whispered, his hands sliding up my arms. “You’re nothing like the others.”

Your heart is mine.

I pulled my head back, glaring at him with a sinister gleam in my eyes. “You’re right…I’m not,” I hissed, releasing the glamour’s hold on me. “Thanks to you, bitch.”

Power crackled around me as the smooth skin across my arms faded away, releasing the glamour that had held back the claws and scales along my arms.

Preston looked down, confusion spreading across his face as the skin beneath his touch changed.

Grinning wickedly, I thrust my hand toward Preston, claws gripping his throat. My knife-like nails dug into his neck as I threw him down onto the dock, shaking the entire structure.

Preston stumbled backward, terror etched across his face. “What—” he stammered, choking on his words as he moved his hands to his throat.

Standing over him, my gaze pierced into his horrified eyes. I raised my hand into the air, the light gleaming off the black scales and obsidian claws.

“What? You don’t recognize me, babe?” My voice vibrated as I unshackled the glamour from it.

Preston’s mouth hung open.

“Your—your voice…is different—” he stammered.

I slowly clapped my hands. “Great observation,” I sneered, advancing closer.

Throwing myself on top of Preston, I pinned his wrists to the dock’s planks, my claws digging into his skin. Blood welled beneath the puncture wounds.

Preston screamed and writhed against my grasp. “Who—Who the fuck are you, you psychotic bitch?”

Layne’s voice snarled in my mind, Show him who you are, my queen.

Gladly, I replied.

My face hovered right over Preston’s as my gaze burned into his. Pressing my eyes shut, I focused on lowering the glamour’s hold.

Slowly, the billowing waves of honey-blond hair dissipated into a fine mist as my dark hair flowed back down from my scalp. The mask of borrowed facial features slowly shifted back into place as the glamour’s magic disappeared.

My voice dropped, cold and sharp. “Who am I, Preston?” I growled, shaking my head as the last of the glamour faded away.

Preston’s eyes were wide with terror, his voice too paralyzed to speak or scream.

My icy blue eyes cut right through him.

“Don’t you remember?” I growled. “It’s me, just another dead girl.”

Joyce’s cries faded behind Ethan as he ran down the gangway, leaping off the dock and onto the lawn of Preston’s yard.

His feet pounded the ground as his sneakers dug into the wet grass of Preston’s sprawling estate.

All he could think about was getting to the woman in black and Preston. He was desperate to find out what the hell was going on.

His blood roared in his ears, drowning out everything except his ragged breathing as he ran toward the mansion.

Ethan squinted in the darkness, the moon offering little illumination under the scattered cloud cover. His gaze searched for any sign of Preston or the woman, but he couldn’t see them. From the yacht’s deck, he’d seen that they were heading toward the back of the house, so he took off in that direction.

Veering toward the outer edges of the property, he stayed close to where the water met the lawn. If he was going to be trespassing for the first time in his life, he wanted to at least be stealthy in his approach.