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I stepped into him, my hard chest pressing against his.

Once again, I felt the primal part of me rising up all too quickly, all too uncontrollably.

I forced myself to step back, and I shoved a hand through my hair. “Motherfucker.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“You’ve barely been in classes, you’ve been tense, and you’ve been extremely gung-ho about this punishment we’re dealing out—the only way I’ve managed to get you out of your room, since I got better, actually. And the dead giveaway? You haven’t connected with Ariana yet, despite her trying to seek you out.”

“She told you that?”

“No, she told Nyx. He’s more… emotionally available… consistently.” He frowned. “Is this about what happened between the three of us the other day? You scented it?”

“Only the tail end, I was lingering in the dreamwalking. Nyx let me stay there by myself for a while. He put a time-delay on it, so I could be pulled out later, but without him needing to stay behind to do it, as he was anxious to check on you.”

“And?”

“AndI’m actually glad that happened between the three of you. It’s bringing Ariana closer to you—and all of us, by extension. And I’m also glad thatIwasn’t a part of it at that time. I’m not…” I shoved a hand through my hair. “Ever since I did that strange magic to spare you… Primal Celestial Resonance, you told me Ariana called it, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Ever since then, the primal, animal part of me has been on overload. It’s been difficult to control. Even coming close to you today, it’s taken a great deal of effort for me not to allow it to lead the way, and for me not to unleash all over you.” I gestured at the basement door. “Doingthis, this violence and punishment, is helping to tether me, to help me sublimate.”

“Okay, let me help you. I can test you. We can bring Ariana in and—”

“Not her.”

“The one person you’ve been obsessed with and had your sights set on, and you don’t want her help?”

“I could hurt her. I slept with her. I was inside her. It was akin to staking a claim to me. The only thing missing was an official claiming bite, but Ididcut her and taste her blood, so it’s still left a deep impact on me. Shecallsto that primal side of me in a major way, Kai.”

“All right, I get it. I do. But you also need to understand that you can’t actually hurt her. This is Ariana Martel we’re talking about.”

“We don’t know that still holds true anymore. Not with that ability that I manifested to save you. And… there’s other stuff, too.”

“Other abilities, yes, I figured.”

“You did?”

“Of course, and—”

“You can’t keep me down for long, sorcerer! Release me at once!”

We both stilled at the sound of Sorin’s voice coming from the basement.

Infuriating motherfucking timing for him to rouse awake.

I pounded my fist into my hand. “Let’s sort this shithead.”

Kai gestured at the door. “After you.”

I stalked back inside, with Kai following, and locking the door with a flick of his magic.

And there Sorin was, struggling in his binds, and looking either side of him at the two vamps passed out in their chairs.

“This is pointless,” Sorin said, eyeing us. “Do you have any idea how much magical might it will take to bind a Dark Fae of my caliber, with my bloodline, for a longer stretch of time?” He scoffed. “You’ll drain yourself, Kai. And that’s your only move against me, the only way to keep your Incubus pet safe is me without access to my power. Because I won’t stop. I won’t stop with any of this.” He gestured at his vampires. “Theymight have been persuaded. They fear your power—and they also balk in the presence of dragon kind. But not while my influential mind-meddling serves to transcend that.”