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My mate.

“I’m going to find him.” Arabella didn’t look back at Jessamine or the others as she strode into the castle’s entryway and headed for the large oak doors. The walls and floors were made entirely of stone, and the lanterns along the walls had gone dark.

There was no reason to linger for a moment longer.

Arabella was dressed in the black leathers all enchantresses wore, which were imbued with protective magic. She also worea head chain with the teardrop gemstone that hung down to the center of her forehead.

“Do you know where he is?” Jessamine pressed.

“Yes.”

Somehow, Arabella knew that the tugging in her chest would lead her to him.

Before she could reach for the cast-iron door handle and make for the stables beyond it, pain shot down the bond.

She staggered forward, clutching her stomach.

It felt like a blade had been submerged in fire and then sheathed in her gut. Agony exploded in her mind, consuming every sense. She cried out, tears streaming down her cheeks. Grasping at her stomach, she was surprised when her fingers came back bloodless.

Blinking, she stared at her hand and swallowed back bile.

What are they doing to you?

Magnus had Elias. And he was hurting him.

The hairs along her arms stood on end as though lightning were about to strike.

Heart racing, she ignored the hands on her shoulders and the worried looks of her friends. She had to move.Now.

I need to learn how to control what I feel down the bond,she thought.And soon.

When her memories returned and the mating bond had snapped back into place a few minutes ago, she felt Elias’ emotions with such clarity. In an instant, her mind was no longer her own. Her fate had become entwined with a demon. It was already a struggle to tease out what she was feeling from Elias’ experiences, especially as his pain and fear mingled and crashed down on her.

There wasn’t time to sort that out now.

A hand caught her wrist, forcing her to stop as she reached for the door handle again.

“Stop,” Jessamine said, her voice unyielding. It was a tone that Arabella knew all too well. It brooked no argument. “If your memories are back, then you’ll also recall there’s a fuckingarmybeyond the ward. As powerful as you are, even you can’t single-handedly face down an army of dark creatures. None of us can.”

Gritting her teeth, Arabella turned on a heel and faced Jessamine.

There was an unparalleled fierceness in Jessamine’s gaze. She was short in stature and as fearless as the dragons of legend. Like Arabella, she wore enchantress leathers with countless knives sheathed throughout her armor. But her blonde hair was loose, hanging in long waves.

Beside her stood Cora and Brynne, two other enchantresses from Shadowbank and some of Arabella’s dearest friends. They’d come with Jessamine to Elias’ castle to try to help Arabella regain her memories.

Now, the three enchantresses all had varying expressions of concern on their faces.

For the first time, Arabella wondered if the worry wasn’t for Elias’ safety but instead what she might do with her new shadow magic.

Breckett stood very still behind them, his face devoid of expression.

She didn’t bother to wipe her tears away as she looked at them.

“You can feel him somehow. Can’t you?” Jessamine said, her eyes fixed on Arabella’s face—and the devastation that was likely as plain as the dawn. In a quieter voice, as though speaking to herself, she said, “What are they doing to him?”

Arabella’s gaze turned to Breckett. The demon was tall with light brown skin and eyes as dark as night. Like all erox, he possessed an unearthly beauty and magnetism that had her heart pattering at his nearness. Her body would desire anyerox she was near, but the pull wasn’t anything like what she’d experienced with Elias. What she felt with her mate was electric—as though they were ocean currents flowing toward each other, drawn ever closer and set to collide.

Breckett’s short black hair was in complete disarray as though he’d been running his hand through it repeatedly. There were purple smudges beneath his eyes, and for a moment, she wondered if he’d been crying.