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He was right.

This syphen was a start, but it wasn’t going to be enough.

Something dark moved through her thoughts, sharpening her anger. It felt like a flower made of blades bloomed in herchest. For a moment, she wondered if this was another effect of her new shadow magic. It was unlike anything she’d experienced before, but she let it fill her. Let the anger strengthen her.

Throwing the doors wide, she walked out into the cool autumn air.

The castle was nestled deep within a mountainous forest and had a small clearing around it on three sides and a lake on the other. A translucent gray ward sprouted from the earth and encased them in mist, forming a barrier between the castle and the dark forest beyond it—and the demons that never ceased searching for their next prey.

Without the collar suppressing her magic, she could see the ward clearly. The color was so unlike the purple-blue hue of the ward surrounding Shadowbank. Whoever created this one had not used earth magic.

She made it only a few steps beyond the castle doors before pain sliced through her.

The suddenness of it stole her breath away. It felt like an earthquake had caused a fissure in her very being, fracturing all that she was and engulfing her in agony.

Her vision blurred, and she could no longer see the castle grounds before her or the trees beyond them.

Knees buckling, she collapsed onto the ground, eyelids shuttering.

Before blackness took her, one name lingered in her thoughts.

Elias.

Then she succumbed to the torrent and knew no more.

Chapter Two

ARABELLA

Arabella floated in a fathomless darkness before her feet touched down.

There was no ground beneath her or anything to indicate there was any substance in this place. But she was able to stand on her own.

Where am I?

She glanced around into an endless void.

There was nothing in any direction. No people, no buildings, no land. In the darkness, there was a deeper black, branching all around like creeping, leafless vines with large, protruding thorns.

Glancing down, she studied her hands, which glowed faintly with a gray-white light. She realized it wasn’t just her hands that glowed. It was all of her skin that appeared above her leathers.

How strange.

She wondered just how she’d gotten here. Last she knew, she’d been standing outside the castle before pain struck her.

Had Breckett struck her down when her back had been turned? Even with the others guarding her back, she’d been foolish enough to turn from him when he was furious. Did hehave some secret power he’d been hiding from her and used it when she’d taken the syphen from him? Or had it been something else?

Another thought struck her.

Was Elias being tortured again? Did she black out from experiencing his pain? If that had been the reason for her passing out, she needed to learn how to separate the sensations and feelings of her mate from her own. Or else, she’d risk fainting at any moment. If she blacked out in the middle of her journey through the forest when they left the castle, she’d be demon fodder. But she wouldn’t remain in the castle for any longer than she had to. The moment she was conscious again, she’d set a course for Elias.

It didn’t matter if she was outnumbered by Magnus’ army even with the help of the syphen. Facing Magnus was still worth the risk.

She couldn’t donothing.

Suddenly, a gray-blue light shimmered on in the distance. It wasn’t a true horizon, as there was no true beginning and end to the darkness. But far away, the light shimmered as it descended before disappearing.

She began to raise her arm to wave but hesitated.