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He took a step back, sitting on the window’s ledge as he pulled at the rings on his fingers and began to explain.

The beating of my heart seemed to pick up speed with each passing second he spoke. I could feel the blood rushing through my veins, as if it were trying to escape the confines of my body. I could hear the sound of my own pulse, loud and insistent. He spoke of plans that had been made, plans that were currently underway.

My palms began to sweat, my breaths becoming shallow and rapid. I wanted to scream at him to stop, to give me one fucking moment to catch my breath, to make sense of everything he was telling me. But I couldn’t find the words. They were stuck in my throat, choking me.

We had lost contact with Redelvtum.

We had no army and Cin was on her way to unleash vengeful Gods.

“. . . they should be back in a few days, if all goes well,”he finished, clasping his hands around the ledge he sat on.

I could feel the horror sinking into my face as he studied me.

There was no guarantee that Cin would come back alive. That these fallen Gods wouldn’t kill her the moment they woke.

Panic began to wrack my body as I flew from bed and scurried around the room, searching for my leathers. I had to get to her. I couldn’t let her do this alone.

“What are you doing, Ataliia?” Andrues asked as he watched me from his perch.

“I’m going to The Silliands,” I snapped, pushing my legs through my pants and pulling the night shirt over my head as I dug through the bin for my red tunic.

“I cannot let you do that,” he stated plainly.

“I’m going, Andrues,” I hissed, whirling around to face him, not caring that I was half naked.

The breath caught in his throat and my nipples peaked at the sight of it.

His gaze grew dark as he dragged his eyes up the length of my body before pinning them on mine and my chest heaved at the intensity of it. An almost inaudible growl rumbled in his throat as he pushed from the window and stalked toward me with slow, determined steps. His fingers wrapped around the hem of his sleeves, rolling them up his forearms as my eyes fell to the veins that were pumping there, pulsating against his skin.

I took a step away from him as he came closer, my back hitting the bookshelves lining the wall behind me. His eyes never left mine, refusing to indulge in my bare breasts that were on full display. He leaned down as he stopped directly in front of me, and I stifled the gasp flying up my throat as his hot breath ghosted across my nipples.

He stood upright slowly, pressing a tunic over my chest and kept his eyes locked on mine for only a second longer before taking a step back. “Get dressed, Ataliia.”

It was an order and he did not give me time to argue with it before he turned and walked from the room.

Air crashed back into my lungs as his back disappeared around the corner and I clutched the tunic to my chest, lettingmy head fall back against the book spines behind me. My eyes slammed shut as I focused on calming my breathing, soothing the nerves that had just coiled inside my body at the sight of him prowling toward me.

He is your fucking friend, maybe the only one you have left—get it together, I thought, scolding myself for the heat that was beginning to pool low in my abdomen.

Clearing my throat, I pushed the tunic over my head, pulling it down my stomach before rounding the corner into the sitting room, and stilled. He was lounging in an armchair, his fingers scratching behind the ears of a giant grey wolf.

“I-is that my familiar?” I breathed, staring back at it with wide eyes.

“I believe so,” Andrues said, grinning down at her.

Cyloe’s head slowly turned to look at me and a gasp flung itself from my lungs as two crimson eyes locked onto mine. We stared back at each other as a grin slid onto my face.

She is magnificent.

“I am going to The Silliands,” I said again, sliding my hand over Cyloe’s head as I slipped into the chair across from Andrues. His eyes bore into me, his stare burning into the side of my face and the knowledge that he was staring at me—looking at me—made the surface of my skin tingle.

No one had ever seen my darkness—not like he had, yet it didn’t scare him. He didn’t run from it. Not only did he not run, but he had met me in it.

He pulled me from it.

My arms folded over my chest as I pushed away the crimson that was beginning to flood my features and met his gaze.

“I understand that you feel guilty for the way things were left, but a plan was made and they have already gone. You going now would do more harm than good and I think you knowthat,” Andrues stated, resting his chin between his thumb and forefinger.