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Why did it feel like Elias just fed on her? When he’d taken too much of Arabella’s essence in the past, he’d given her snacks and told her to rest. She’d quickly learned that being with an erox meant she needed to eat more to keep up her strength.

But Elias was in Magnus’ camp. There was no way he could have fed on her. She could feel the tugging in her chest, pulling her toward the forest and wherever Magnus’ army hid their encampment.

Even still, the hunger in her gut felt all too real.

After several more attempts, she managed to open her eyes.

Blinking, the first thing she noticed was that she was lying on the ground outside the main doors to the castle. There was a grassy clearing with a path to the stables in one direction and the gardens in the other. A few hundred feet beyond both, the forest loomed, enclosing the clearing with dark, branching fingers.

Jessamine and Cora knelt on either side of Arabella while Brynne stood a few feet away with one hand resting too casually on the hilt of her sword and positioned her body toward the castle doors.

“Iamhungry,” Arabella admitted, her mouth feeling strangely dry. For a moment, she thought she noted a lingering scent of citrus and pine on her skin.

Cora helped her to a seated position and passed her a piece of bread. “Have this.”

Arabella bit into it. “Breckett…?”

She doubted the erox was the reason she’d blacked out, especially after Jessamine’s reaction. If he’d attacked, theenchantresses would have had him trussed up, or they’d be in pursuit if he’d fled.

Jessamine shook her head.

Fuck.

If Breckett hadn’t knocked her unconscious, that meant there were yet more unanswered questions.

Tentatively, she felt down the bond.

Compared to before, it was strangely quiet on the other end. She couldn’t sense pain or any strong emotions. Had Elias passed out? Some part of her hoped that he was unconscious if only to give him a respite from whatever Magnus was doing to him.

She took another bite of bread, not bothering to stand from where she sat in the grass.

“Will you use it?” Jessamine asked, nodding to where Arabella had sheathed the syphen.

There was no accusation or disapproval in Jessamine’s gaze.

Like Arabella, Jessamine had been forced to make hard decisions in Shadowbank. Sometimes, saving loved ones meant hurting—or not protecting—someone else’s loved ones. There was so much gray in survival.

“Maybe,” Arabella said, chewing.

Once, she’d thought Elias was an enemy for the simple fact that he was a demon. But he’d shown her that actions were what made someone.

Some of the erox in Magnus’ army were far from innocent. A few had tried to kill her when she’d been a captive in Magnus’ camp—to rape her and consume her essence until there was nothing left. It was possible some of them hadn’t wanted to be turned. Some could be in the army against their will.

But there was no way of separating the good from the bad.

Until Elias was safe from Magnus, these other erox weren’t her priority. She’d protect her mate, and then she’d freethem. She wouldn’t become like Magnus and use the males against their wills for longer than it took to rescue Elias. But she wouldn’t hesitate to use everything—and everyone—at her disposal to protect her mate.

However, to find their way out of the forest, they needed Breckett.

Elias had stepped between shadows when he’d brought her to his castle in the forest, and he’d done the same for the other enchantresses. While she estimated Shadowbank was within a day’s ride, they had no way of knowing which direction the village was.

Damn her for not thinking of that earlier.

She didn’t regret taking the syphen, but she also knew she owed Breckett an apology. If a blade could take free will from her or those she loved at a moment’s notice, she’d be possessive of it, too.

For the first time, she wondered whether Magnus had turned Breckett with this particular syphen or if Breckett had been made with Elias’ syphen.

Swallowing the last of her food, Arabella said, “I don’t like how close Magnus’ army is to Shadowbank.” She ran a hand over her hair. “Maybe the head enchantress will have some ideas on how to take down a sorcerer.”