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“But I rose before you.”

“And he possessed me as soon as I awakened.”

“I’m so sorry.” She laid her hand on Bianca’s cheek. “I failed you.”

Edging closer, Bianca rested her fingers over Amaliya’s. “Don’t say that. You didn’t know. It took me a long time to fight through the possession. It was like I was in a very deep sleep and caught in a nightmare I couldn’t escape. Once I managed to slip past his power, it took a long time to find your grandmother. I’m so sorry about her dying. I never dreamed he would kill her.”

“So you did try to reach my grandmama?”

“I thought she would be like my mother and be able to fight him.”

Amaliya tried to banish the image in her mind of her grandmother’s tiny broken form. “Your mother fought The Summoner?”

“He tried to claim her. She fought him and won. I was very little when it happened. When he couldn’t reach her inside the house, he burned it to the ground. She died saving me. I didn’t see him again until he arrived at the college. I recognized him, but thought he didn’t know who I was. I was wrong.”

“Fuck me. He’s been watching us for a very long time then?”

“We are his grand experiment.” Bianca peered at Amaliya over the edge of the blanket. “We’re his chosen.”

Flopping onto her back, Amaliya slid her hands through her messy black hair and tried to wrap her mind around what Bianca had said. “So, you reached out to my grandmama...”

“Yeah, but he caught on. I should have learned then, but I wanted to escape...” Bianca faltered.

Amaliya understood very well the desperation that must have been ripping through Bianca. How many times had Amaliya tried to escape from the troubles of her life? Now, instead of running, she was facing the evil that haunted her existence. “I get it. Trust me. I would have been doing the same thing.”

“Then he started to astral project, leaving me alone in my body. It was the first bit of real freedom I’d had in so long that I didn’t really think about the consequences of reaching out to you. It was so freeing to see glimpses of your life.” A slight smile touched Bianca’s lips.

Amaliya couldn’t help but to return it. “I can imagine.”

“It was so wonderful. Those little peeks. I thought maybe I could find a way to escape, but then...” Bianca’s gaze briefly shifted to view The Summoner. “Once the twelve rings were here, he harnessed the power to shape himself into a tangible being and our relationship changed.”

It had been clear the night before that Bianca had become well-versed in the art of sex, but Amaliya suspected that had not been the case before her transformation. The Summoner had made her his lover, his slave, and his vessel. “Did he force you?”

Bianca sadly shook her head. “I wish I could say he did, but I gave into his seduction almost immediately. You felt it. Didn’t you? That power...” The rapture of the memory caught her for a moment altering her innocent beauty into something more seductive. “He terrifies me, and I know he’s evil, but...”

“It’s like we belong with him.”

“Yeah. It’s so delicious and terrifying because if I were to totally let go...completely give in...”

It disturbed Amaliya that she did understand. It was as if she were standing on a precipice and if she were just let go of her humanity and attachment to the mortal world she would become untethered and fly through the abyss as a risen death goddess.

Gathering Bianca close, Amaliya rested her cheek against her fair tresses. Bianca snuggled into her, seeking solace, and maybe strength. Sadly, Amaliya knew it was a mistake to try to comfort each other because instantly their magicks mingled and grew in magnitude. It fed into the energy in the room, making the atmosphere thick with magic.

“He couldn’t wait until you were here. I’m a poor substitution for you, Amaliya.”

Amaliya felt a flash of sadness, realizing that Bianca felt like the lesser of them. The Summoner had paid more attention to Amaliya during their night of sex, but she thought it was because it had been so long since he had touched her.

“You’re a powerful necromancer, too, Bianca. I think you’re more powerful than I am. There’s a reason he created both of us.”

“Because of what we were as humans,” Bianca agreed. “But you’re the one he wants at his side. He killed me out of malice. He admitted he thought I was too far gone, driven crazy by my powers, to bring over safely. I’ve been his unexpected consolation prize in all of this. It’s you he really wants. It’s you he may even love. You’re everything I’m not. Everything I can’t be.”

“A fucked up metalhead with attitude?”

Bianca giggled. “Actually, yeah. It’s your rebelliousness that sucked him in. I’m sure of it. It always fascinated the hell out of me.”

“Yeah? Cian says it’s part of my charm.” Wincing, Amaliya wished she hadn’t uttered her love’s name. It hu

rt to be without him, to not have him at her side.