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And finally—I can put it off no longer—I look at the woman standing in front of me. My aunt. The pendant has vanished.I need that fucking pendant. I want to scream at her, but I don’t have the strength. So all I say is, “Why?”

She stares down at me, her face expressionless. Then she turns away without answering. She walks toward Lucifer and stops in front of him. “You promised she wouldn’t be killed. That was the deal.”

Something breaks inside me at her words. I’d been hoping that there was some other explanation. But it seems it wasn’t Winter who gave us away. It was Hecate who informed Lucifer of my imminent arrival. It doesn’t make sense. Nothing makes sense. I give myself a little shake, and agony pours through me like liquid fire.

“I won’t kill her,” he murmurs, then turns to me with a smirk. “Where would the fun be in that? I have much better plans. Bring him in.”

My insides go cold and my mouth floods with saliva. The door opens and the sorceress, Zeryth, stalks in followed by two guards dragging an almost unconscious Khaosti between them. I take an involuntary step forward, and Hecate stops me with a hand on my arm. I turn to her, my heart cracking open. “Stop him.” She’s obviously got some leverage with Lucifer. I presume she still must have something to offer. But what?

“I can’t,” she says with a glance at Khaosti. “I got your life. Be thankful for that. For the son of Khronus—there was never any chance.”

She drops her hand, whirls around, and almost runs for the door.Bitch.

I swallow and force myself to look at Khaosti. He’s not unconscious after all, but he’s been beaten within an inch of his life. As I watch, he slowly raises his head and our gazes lock. His lips curve into a small smile, and he gives me a nod.

Ignoring the pain in my ribs, I stand up straight and smile back. If he can be brave, so can I. But dread is a huge, coagulated ball of filth in my chest. I don’t know what my father plans, but I know it’s going to be bad. And there’s nothing I can do to stop it. I hate the sense of powerlessness.

I sense Lucifer come up beside me. “On your knees,” he says. I hesitate and he leans in close and whispers, “On your knees or he dies.”

Maybe that would be better, a quick death. It would be over.

“But death is so final,” he murmurs as if I spoke out loud. “While there is life, there is hope.”

Actually I don’t have a lot of hope left. But he’s right. I can’t see Khaosti die. I give a sharp nod.

“Good choice.” He chuckles. “I think you might find this interesting.”

I lick my dry lips. “What are you going to do to him? Please, let him go. I’ll do what you want.” For as long as I need to.

“I’ll not kill him. I would lose my leverage. But let’s just say, he’ll be changed. This is the spell Zeryth uses to make my shadowguard. It’s been refined over the centuries.”

No! But I keep the word inside. He might as well kill Khaosti if he leaves him a ruined mess like the shadowguard.

“Of course, we’ve never done this on a full blood Astrali, so the results may be a little different.”

“What does it do?” I force myself to ask.

“It takes their beasts, and in return, they get immortality—though some of them do seem a little ungrateful once they learn the price they have to pay. And I get an army of shadowguard. And more recently, shadow beasts. At first the beasts all died, but Zeryth has had a long time to perfect the spell and a lot of…specimens to practice on.” He turns to look at Khaosti. “Perhaps I’ll send him back to his father once the transformation is complete.”

So he’s planning to take Fury. And my heart cracks open a little wider.

I look back at Khaosti as the witch starts chanting the spell. For a second, he holds my gaze, then a scream tears from his throat, and he doubles over, only held upright by the guards’ grip on his arms. He throws his head back, his eyes are on fire, and he screams again.

“Stop it,” I yell at Lucifer. “Just stop it, and I’ll do whatever you want.”

“Right now, I want nothing other than his screams and your suffering.”

I hate him. I loathe him. I don’t care if it’s not his fault. If I had the pendant and wasn’t wearing this collar, I would kill him right now and die happy. But I haven’t. And all I can do is endure.

Khaosti’s screams tear into my mind, and I stuff my fist in my mouth to stop the pleas I know will go unanswered. I close my eyes and pray to Selene. “Where the fuck are you, bitch. What’sthe fucking plan. You sent me back here. What am I supposed to fucking do?”

Do I get an answer? Of course I don’t. But Khaosti’s screams are turning into a hoarse croaking rasp.

“Interesting,” Lucifer murmurs. “I’ve never known anyone fight so hard.”

I stare at Khaosti. Something weird is happening. I see a shadow leaking from his chest. It forms into the shape of a wolf’s head. Fury. And this time my heart does break. But Khaosti’s body stiffens, then his spine arches and he roars, and the wolf joins him, howling. Zeryth’s chants grow louder, and the shadow extends, dragged from Khaosti.

“No,” he screams and for a second Fury stares straight at me, eyes crimson. Then the light goes from them and the head collapses and the shadow dies.