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Tanya strutted up to the scanner. “Move, please, Roman.”

He stepped in front of it, fully blocking her. “Tanya, Tanya,” he crooned. “Calm down, sweetheart. You are way too high strung. When was the last time you got laid?” She huffed, the tops of her cheeks reddening. “Your chambers are built for this, no?” She had no answer to that. Her eyes darted between the faces in their group, as if searching for backup. “Just relax,” Roman breathed. “He’s not going to break it.”

Tanya rolled the coil back up her arm. “You guys are going to make me go gray.” She left, her stilettos tapping out a rapid staccato, and busied herself with the phones droning on the desk.

Jack said, “You sure he’s not gonna bring the building down?”

Roman gave them all a wicked smile. “I’m not sure at all.”

Darien was surprised to find that Roman wasn’t exaggerating.

This was fucking phenomenal. Never had he experienced this kind of relief from his magic—not unless he had a really rough, near-violent sex marathon that threatened to kill him. And even then, sometimes that didn’t always work.

This, though?… He could stay in here forever.

There was no sense of time in this place. No light. It was just him and the stars. The dust motes and the constellations generated by the bursts of magic vacating his body.

Speaking of his body… It felt buoyant in a way that could only be described as delicious. He felt like a million bucks. He never wanted to get out of this thing.

He wondered how much it would cost to get one installed at Hell’s Gate. That would be money well-spent.

As he floated, time lost all meaning. By the time the session ended, he had no idea how many minutes or hours had passed, but he knew that it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.

The chamber shut off with a jarring shudder. One by one, the galaxies his magic had created winked out, the absence of light plunging the room into darkness once more.

The return of gravity hit him like the snap of an elastic band.

He fell, deeper into the chamber, and landed in a black net that stretched all the way across the room. The ropes were tough and didn’t have much give; they’d fuck up a mortal body, for sure. It was still dark in here; he couldn’t see anything. There was no way of telling where the roof or floor was.

The door slid open. A beam of light fell into the room, illuminating the net he was lying upon.

Roman filled the doorframe, the others forming a crowd behind him.

“You,” Roman said, his mouth stretching into a feral grin, “are one powerful son of a fucking asshole.”

76

The Financial District

YVESWICH, STATE OF KER

“Your brain is out of this world,” Darien said to Tanner, looking over the hacker’s shoulder as he clicked away on his tablet.

The elevator—near full capacity, their whole group crammed inside—plummeted toward the ground floor of the skyscraper at a speed that would disorient any mortal. And it was that speed that caused Darien to stay extra close to Loren, in case she were to lose her balance.

But she was doing a lot better after her treatment, thank fuck. He’d checked her aura before leaving Caliginous—before she’d put her talisman back on. All her colors were equally bright, and her cheeks had a healthy flush. Even her eyes were filled with energy.

Whenever he made it back to Angelthene, he owed Roark the biggest thank-you.

“You don’t like compliments,” Tanner replied with a murmur, his sharp eyes scanning the codes on his tablet, “and neither do I.”

The numbers on the elevator screen fell away one by one; they were almost there.

Tanner said, “Three…two…one…aaaaaaaaaand…” He pressed a button on the side of the tablet, and the device went to sleep. Gray eyes that were brimming with amusement snapped to Darien’s face. “Check your phone,” Atlas challenged, fighting a smile.

Darien pulled it out of his pocket and turned on the screen.

“Anything?” Tanner asked, his tone cocky.