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“Adrian is becoming more and more a monster every day,” he said. “Tell me you have not seen the signs. The flash of white in his eyes, the pain in his head. It is Dis taking over. It is Dis speaking to him.”

“How do you know it is Dis?” I whispered, my mouth quivering. I did not know if it was from my anguish or shock.

“Isolde,” Sorin said, shaking his head.

“Don’t,” I said between bloody teeth. “Do not say my name.”

Sorin nodded and then spoke. “He’ll hurt you one day, and then you will understand.”

“He would never,” I said with such conviction in my voice. I began to cry.

“I really do love you,” Sorin said. “I wish you could remember…this is for the greater good.”

Those words.

My father had used them.

“You wanted me to kill myself?” I asked, affronted. “For whom? For a kingdom of people who turned their backs on me for my sacrifice?”

“It is for the greater good!” he said.

“Get out,” I said.

“Iso—”

“I said get out!” I yelled, blood flying from my mouth. “Get out!”

Tears streamed down Sorin’s face, but he rose to his feet, took up his sword, and fled.

At some point, I must have passed out because I was roused by Adrian’s rage-filled scream. I opened my eyes and stared up at him as he took me into his arms.

“Adrian.” I whispered his name, lifting my blood-stained hand to his face.

“What happened? Where is Sorin?” he asked.

“Sorin did this,” I said. “Sorin is a traitor.”

“No.” I heard another voice I recognized as Daroc’s, but I could not turn my head to look at him.

My eyes were heavy, and my hand fell from Adrian’s face, leaving a streak of blood. Adrian reached for it, pressing my palm to his cheek again.

“I will heal you.”

“Adrian,” I whispered, smiling at him. “Not even you can heal this.”

Adrian’s venom was powerful, but it had limits as we’d had learned with the aufhocker bite.

“Unless… You must change me,” I said.

I recognized there were consequences, but none came close to dying.

Adrian’s eyes passed over my face, as if he were assessing just how much I wanted this. “You are certain?”

“It is either that or die,” I said. “I no longer wish to be a sparrow.”

There was no hesitation after that.

He positioned me so that my head rested on his shoulder, and he bit into my neck. At first, it felt normal, and then he sank his teeth in deeper, and it felt as though he had injected fire into my veins. But I did not scream; I only held onto him as tightly as I could.