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Steps sounded behind her, but her eyes fluttered closed as the dark melody swelled to a crescendo.

Come, it seemed to say.Come to me.

Slowly, she reached out a hand.

The moment her fingers connected with the gateway, her braid lifted off her shoulders in a sudden gust of wind before she stepped into the space between realms.

Chapter Ten

ARABELLA

Darkness consumed her. It was everywhere, diluting her senses and thoughts until all she knew was the endless void.

One moment, she was stepping forward, an unholy siren’s song lilting through her mind. In the next, tidal waves crashed over her. She tried to reach out, desperately grasping for a handhold, but she had neither fingers nor a body.

For a moment, it felt like she ceased to exist as she floated in the fathomless deep.

She wondered if it was possible to die without a body. She felt herself sink, succumbing to the weight pressing ever downward. The will to fight seeped from her, and eternal night filled her until she was forced to become one with the starless void.

Then there was a sensation like the popping of a bubble atop the surface of water.

When Arabella opened her eyes, she thought it was night.

She stood in the middle of a desert with rolling hills of sand in every direction. The inky sky bore neither stars nor moons. Yet somehow, she could see in the unlit landscape.

Suddenly, a sound came from above her. There was a scream and then a muffledthud.

No, two thuds.

Turning, the sand shifted beneath her leather boots as she spotted an unconscious Jessamine and a very angry, very sandy Breckett.

A moment later, wings darker than the sky spread out above them, flapping as the prince descended with irritating grace to the ground. Once he landed, he tucked his wings behind him. Then he scanned the landscape—and likely found the same thing she had.

They were utterly alone in a dark wilderness.

A crippling truth settled in her bones.

Their supplies wouldn’t sustain them for long.They had waterskins, some dried meats, and other supplies, but it wouldn’t be enough to even see them out of the desert.Ifthere was anything other than deserts in the Abyss.

We’re going to die here, she realized.The map doesn’t work, and there’s no water.

Why hadn’t she gone straight to Elias? Fuck the army. Maybe she could’ve made a deal with Magnus to free Elias…

A suddenwrongnessstruck her. It took her a moment to place what.

“I can’t feel Elias.” The words came out as a whisper as fear iced her veins.

Hadeon frowned at her before realization dawned in his eyes, which was quickly replaced by confusion. “Your mating bond?”

She nodded, pulling at her jacket and leathers, desperate to remove them from her chest—as though she could touch the magical connection that tied her to Elias.

Had she broken the mating bond by coming to the Abyss? Assuming that’s where they were and they hadn’t stumbled into some other realm.

“I can’t feel his pain, his fear,” she said, her throat tightening. “When he’s awake, it’s always there…”

The prince was suddenly before her, extending a gloved hand toward her chest. She felt the rumble of his magic as his eyes closed, though she couldn’t see a shift in power.

“No,” he said. “It’s not… gone. Your scent is still mated.”