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Magnus raised a brow, a flicker of surprise marring his features for the briefest of moments.

But she didn’t have eyes for him.

Instead, she fixed her gaze on Elias, whose hand was wrapped around Jessamine’s throat. Jessamine’s feet barely touched the floor, the toes of her boots scraping against the tiles as she struggled to free herself. With a flicker of blue in his gaze, Jessamine went pliant in his grip. She dropped the earthen weaves she’d been forming, which dissipated instantly.

“You made a mistake in trying to protect your friend before,” Magnus said. “You revealed what you care for—and what you’re desperate to protect. It’s too late for you to protect Elias, butwe’ll see about your friend. Now, you have a choice: do as you’re told, or she dies.”

Arabella’s eyes flickered between her mate and Jessamine—whose eyes had glazed over with the pull of desire from Elias’ erox magic. Elias still didn’t look at her, and his face was devoid of emotion.

It was as though he were nothing more than a soldier taking orders.

He’s still in there,she thought. Or else he wouldn’t have felt fear at the mention of the underrealm.

But even if Elias was in there somewhere, he could still be forced to kill Jessamine, and Arabella could never allow that.

Somehow, she had to save them both.

First, she’d separate Jessamine from Elias, and then she would unleash her new magic. It was clear the queen wasn’t going to let her go. She’d have to fight her way out.

For now, she’d play along until there was an opening.

She lifted her chin. “How can I make the syphen?”

A trace of humor flicked across Magnus’ eyes. “I knew you’d see reason. A new syphen can only be created under the power of the black moon. As it just so happens, the dark side of the moon will be revealed tonight.”

She wasn’t certain how much time had passed while they were in the Abyss, but what awful timing. Magnus would wreak havoc if he had some all-powerful syphen. And there was no way he could use this weapon to grant immortality without there being a steep price for it.

A slip of scarlet plucked one of her daggers from her waist. It trailed in the air before coming into Magnus’ outstretched hand.

“You can create a blade from scratch, infusing the metal with magic as it’s being forged, but the theatrics are unnecessary,” Magnus said. “And finding a shadow fae blacksmith is a rarity these days. But I’ve found making a syphen with an existingblade is equally effective.” He gestured to Arabella’s dagger, which was a simple blade of steel with a black handle. Like Elias’ syphen, it was unremarkable in appearance—neither embossed or covered in gemstones. “However, there’s one thing I’ll add.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out what appeared to be a round glass ball.

She gaped.

It was the amplifier she’d gotten from Hadeon at the ball and lost when she’d fled Elias’ castle and was captured by the ogres.

A bright light burst from Magnus’ hands. It was so bright that she flinched away, unable to look at where he held her knife and the amplifier. As the light receded, she turned back to find Magnus had somehow fused the amplifier to the end of the handle.

“There we have it,” he said before flipping the knife, grabbing the tip of the blade, and throwing it at her.

She lunged out of the blade’s path while throwing up a wall of black. Rather than the blade punching into her shoulder, it was enfolded in shadows. She raised it with her magic, holding it by the tip just as Magnus had.

It was then she realized that the amplifier was utterly empty of magic.

No wonder he hadn’t been concerned about handing over an amplifier to her.

Magnus strode over to where Arabella stood at the base of the dais.

As he did, Hadeon looked up at Genoveva. “Mother, I must insist. We can’t?—”

“That’s enough,” Genoveva snapped. “Interfere or speak out of turn one more time, and I’ll throw you into the dungeons.”

A vein in Hadeon’s jaw bulged, but he didn’t object.

As he spoke, Arabella allowed her shadows to stretch upward from the ground, obscuring everything from the waist down. Asshe did, she pulled one of her hidden knives free from a scabbard at her back. She moved slowly, careful not to show signs of movement.

If she was lucky, Magnus’ focus would be entirely on the blade with the amplifier or on attacks from her magic. She hoped an attack with a simple knife would be beneath his notice.

A moment later, he stood within arm’s reach and gestured to the dagger with the fused amplifier that she held with her shadows. “You must infuse a blade with the power of the dark side of the moon in order to make a syphen.”