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I rolled off his abdomen, scrambling to my feet and staring at him in panic, my mind rushing to try to catch up with everything that had happened.

I’d had him—I’d killed him. Or I would’ve. But something stopped me—some kind of magic.

“What was that?” I demanded.

“Magic cannot destroy itself.” The king sat up, his gaze once again sliding over me, over my body. “Your magic lives in your very veins—the same magic that once lived in mine, and still does in small amounts. You’re her. My salvation.”

“You’re the reason I’m a monster,” I snarled back. “Fix this. Take this magicbackif it won’t allow me to end you and it both.”

“I can’t do that until I’ve retrieved the rest of the throne’s magic from my brothers.” His gaze landed back on my face, as if he couldn’t stop himself from staring at me, taking me in.

“Then do it,” I spat.

“I’ve been trying to for nearly two decades. All I possess is the court’s magic right now, which my brothers also possess—and like yours and mine, it cannot destroy itself.” His lips curved upward wickedly. “But now that you’re here, with my magic, we’ll take the power from them. The throne will be mine, and I’ll free you from my shadows.”

“Iwon’tbe your weapon.” My fists curled at my sides, my fury bringing the monster in my chest to life again.

This time, I wasn’t doing it on purpose.

So this time, I had no sway over her actions.

The magic exploded from my chest, swallowing the castle in shadows as the beast ripped my control away. My heart pounded in my ears like the beat of a drum as the shadowed wolf that took over lunged through the castle.

Like me, she had spent her life in chains.

And like me, she was more desperate for freedom than she could ever explain.

Though shadows darkened the entirety of the castle, she saw with her other senses as she ran from the king, fury and fear coursing through her veins together.

She charged out of the room, finding the fae on the couches blocking her path out. Her teeth shredded the skin of one of them, relishing the scream as the blood coated her tongue.

Another pained cry for help followed, and another, and another.

She wasn’t ending their lives, but she was coming close—very, very close.

Plunging through the darkness, she shoved through the castle’s doors, ignoring their heavy weight as she fought the magic for escape.

When she broke through, she ran for the forest.

For the closest thing she could get to freedom.

And when anyone got in her way, she made them bleed.

The magic dissipatedas the beast reached the forest, and the shadows faded before dropping me on the forest floor, on my hands and knees. Blood drenched my face and neck, soaking my hair and hands too. There were a few new holes in my dress, and a few wet, bloody spots as well.

My chest heaved as I panted, my head drooping toward the dirt floor that my sticky hair brushed.

Tears burned my eyes as the images of what the monster within me had done to those in the city came back to me. The memories cut through my chest like knives, one, by one, by one.

I hated what I was.

I hated that I couldn’t control it.

That I housed this magic so wild, so violent, so…

Branches cracked off to my side, and my head jerked toward the noise.

My magic swelled in my chest again.