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“Now, you will create the portal you promised my brother. I can’t have my consort not living up to her promises. Neighboring kingdoms will believe we are untrustworthy.”

Raelynn’s punishing grip clamped down on my shoulder, her nails stabbing into my flesh. “Picture the location King Idris’s informants gave you earlier and reach out with your senses.”

Between Idris’s order and my sister’s uncompromising guidance, the magic at my core ached to burst free. Uttering a cry of outrage at Milani’s loss, I threw out my hand. Wind whirled about the dais, teasing strands of my purple hair. Crimson swirls of Milani’s aura wafted from her body, combining with my magic and twisting together, becoming one. At first, the vortex was the size of a dinner plate. Then it grew bigger until it was large enough for a grown man to pass through.

At its center, a blurry image formed, the edges becoming more defined. It was a room filled with dark furniture. Bookcases lined the walls with peculiar objects resting on the shelves. A man with a bald head and neatly groomed beard entered the image and paused, frowning at the portal as if he sensed its invisible presence, then shrugged, moving to sit behind a heavy desk. From a drawer, he extracted a cigar, lighting the end and propping his feet on the desktop.

“Magister Tiberius Steele,” Victor snarled.

With my arm locked out in front of me, I managed to twist my head, noticing the vampire’s expression. His rage was so chilling that I shivered. I’d never seen him so angry.

“My seers assure me this location has special meaning to you,” Idris said, words clipped with satisfaction. “A place called Claymore. They claim it was your home.”

“It was,” Custodis confirmed.

“And the male seated on your throne?”

“My nemesis.”

“Wonderful,” Idris cackled. “Come closer, dear brother.”

Victor strode up the steps of the dais, stopping before me and the swirling vision of his home. He eyed the image, his brow furrowed in deep concentration, a silent intensity in his gaze.

“All you have to do is step through and reclaim what was taken from you, take your revenge, and kill the male responsible. He is right there, sleeping in your bed, enjoying all you worked for. Step through and claim what is yours. One caveat. Attempt to drag my consort with you, and rest assured, I will slaughter everyone in this room, starting with her brothers.”

Drazen. Kronk. My heart ached at the thought of them, so close, and yet I was helpless to save them. I dared not look at their damaged bodies. Flarking Idris had pinned them against the walls turns ago, letting them down only for his men to torture before stringing them back up. He’d claimed they were placed there as a warning to all who considered treason. It was a warning I’d heard all too well.

“Tell him, Runa,” Idris ordered, and once more, my words were mine.

I’d not let him end up like my family. “Go home, Victor. This is what you desired all along. I want you to go.” As my mother had given me, I would grant him the choice. A chance at freedom.

There was no need for Idris to force the words from my lips. Yaga was gone. My brothers imprisoned. The villagers pawns in the king’s twisted games. And I…I currently had zero control of my life, or my body, using my gift to further Idris’s agenda—helping him to drain the obsidian from our lands, ravaging our sacred tree. Everything I sought to protect, I ended up destroying.

Despite my soul-deep intentions, I’d become my sister.

“Please,” I begged, voice thick. “Use the portal. Go home.”

Victor stepped closer and cupped my cheek, his winter-green fragrance flooding my senses. Emotions spilled from his goldengaze as he stared into my eyes, whispering, “Little thief, I am home.”

My heart tripped, and I trembled on the verge of tears. Had I misheard him? Surely—

“The portal won’t hold much longer,” Raelynn’s warning interrupted my thoughts. “Time to choose, vampire.”

Victor took a step back from me, an odd gleam shining in his eyes. “I choose…”

“Hurry,” Raelynn prompted.

“I choose… candied fire zapples.”

I coughed on the breath I’d held. “What?” My arm shook, my reserves waning as the portal began to shrink.

Victor grinned back at me. “I choose beauty and laughter. Fierce devotion. Wisdom and courage. Morgue and Fungaria and a dozen younglings. With you, sweet sorceress. I choose you.”

I dropped my aching arm, and the portal to the mortal world, to Victor’s life, collapsed.

“Flarking idiot,” Idris bellowed, “I offer you everything you desire, and yet you decide to stay? For what? Her?” He thrust an accusing finger in my direction, his fury igniting the air. “A common criminal incapable of devotion? Did you not hear her rejection? If words won’t convince you, perhaps a demonstration of your mate’s affection is in order. Runa, my darling…” Idris purred, his voice a venomous caress.

His oily presence slithered over my nerve endings, a cold, sickening weight curling around my limbs. Whatever he had planned was bound to be devastating.