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Finally, we reached the corridor leading to Laryk's quarters. I reached out with my focus, scanning the space ahead. No minds glowed within his chamber, but the hallway crawled with guards.

"Wait here," I breathed to Aether as we pressed into a shadowed corner. "Watch the corridor."

I could feel the tension rolling off of him at my words, but he didn't move. We'd discussed this. He had to trust me.

"Be careful," I heard him hiss from behind me.

I slipped through the wall like mist, materializing in Laryk's quarters for the first time, all sounds from beyond the door now completely silent behind the thick layers of stone. The space was larger than I'd imagined—a massive desk on one side, weapons displayed on the walls, a training dummy positioned in the corner. My eyes caught on something that wasn't on the layout—a fresh stone arch had been carved into the far wall, leading to what appeared to be a grand bathroom. The stone dust still lingered in the crevices.

The room felt empty, but something prickled at the back of my neck. Wrong. It felt wrong. I moved toward his desk, noting the tactical markers scattered across maps, the half-empty wine glass beside them. It was stained with a faint mark of lipstick at the rim.

I whipped around, scanning the room as my heart raced. That's when I felt it—cold steel against my throat, an arm like iron around my waist. The sharp, metallic scent of blood filled my nostrils, making my stomach turn.

"Hi there, Riftborne." A woman's voice was silk against my ear, but her blade pressed harder. "Welcome home." Something wet seeped into my leathers where her arm gripped me. And then there was only pain.

Narissa.

CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

My side burnedwhere Narissa's arm gripped me, so sharp and intense that I nearly doubled over. The acid had melted through the fabric, searing into my flesh as her blade pressed harder against my throat.

"You know," she purred against my ear, "when they said you were alive, I almost hoped it was true.Almost." The knife edge bit deeper. "Laryk was so... devastated when you disappeared. It took weeks to help him forget."

I dissolved into shadow just as her blade sliced air where my throat had been. The acid burn in my side screamed as I reformed across the room, but there was no time to assess the damage. Narissa was already moving, her daggers gleaming as she spun.

"Did you really think you could just walk back in here?" She drew one blade across her palm, letting blood pool in her hand. "After everything?"

She flung the crimson spray where I stood. I shifted again, but not fast enough—drops caught my shoulder and I cried out as they began eating through leather and skin.

"He's mine again," she said, circling slowly. "Has been for months. Did you think he'd wait for a ghost?"

I reached for her mind with my focus, trying to latch onto the silver glow, but she was too fast. She anticipated my stillness, flinging another arc of blood that forced me to dive behind Laryk's desk.

The desk began to sizzle as her blood ate through the wood. I rolled away, coming up in a fighting stance just as she vaulted over the dissolving furniture. Her dagger caught my arm before I could fully dodge, and I felt the bite of steel followed by the familiar burn of her blood.

"He told me everything about you." She slashed again, forcing me back. "About your powers. Your weakness." Her smile was cruel. "How desperate you were for his attention."

I shifted to shadow, materializing behind her, landing a solid kick to her spine. She stumbled forward but turned it into a graceful roll, coming up with fresh blood coating her blades.

"Tell me," she said, flicking crimson drops in a wide arc, "did you really think he loved you? Or were you just an entertaining diversion from me?"

The taunt struck deeper than her blades, but I pushed the feeling aside. I needed to focus, needed one clean shot at her mind. But every time I tried to concentrate, she was there with another attack.

My leathers were in tatters now, burns spreading across my skin wherever her blood had landed. The pain was making it hard to think, hard to maintain shadow form for more than a few seconds. I could barely breathe.

"The best part?" She advanced, cutting her arm to gather more ammunition. "When he finally stopped mourning you, when he came back to me…" Her eyes glittered. "He was better than ever."

My side screamed in protest as I dove under another spray ofblood, rolling to my feet behind the training dummy. The leather target sizzled as her acid found it instead.

"You want to know what he said?" She stalked closer, her arm dripping fresh blood onto the stone floor, eating small craters into its surface. "When he finally stopped whispering your name in his sleep?"

I dissolved just as she struck, reforming by the weapon wall. My fingers closed around a short sword, but she was already there. Her dagger sliced through my thigh before I could block. The pain was instant, sharp, but it was nothing compared to the burning that followed as her blood seeped into the wound.

"He said you were nothing but a lost little girl." She pressed her advantage as I stumbled. "Playing at being a soldier."

My sword met her next strike, the clash of metal echoing through the chamber. But she was ready, using her free hand to fling blood at my face. I barely turned in time, feeling it sear across my cheek.

"Your problem," she continued, spinning away from my counterattack, "is that you never knew what he really needed." Another slash, another burn. "What he deserved."