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There will be no escaping Lord Oblog if he gets that footage. If Marcel and his battle-brothers can’t find a way out before this so-called spectacle, they’ll be forever at the mercy of this Toad Lord, for the rest of their long, long lives.

“I… I can do it,” whispers Tessa.

I turn to face her. My first thought is jealousy again – as if shewantsto do this…

…but the moment I see how pale her skin is, and how she has tears in her eyes, I know that couldn’t be further from the truth.

There’s something dark within me – some mating frenzy of my own – that doesn’t turn my stomach at being the humiliated subject of this obscene spectacle.

Tessa, on the other hand, is just trying to do whatever will keep us alive.

“You saved me, Jamie. If it wasn’t for you…”

She’d be what? Raped by the man I’d spared her from back on the Elnor? The property of a sadistic Bullfrog? In Tessa’s mind, she’s indebted to me forever.

“I can do it,” she murmurs – as if trying to convince herself more than me “You don’t need to go through with this – it’s my turn.”

She only wants to spare me.

I was right to trust Tessa. She’s now ghostly pale at the thought of being fucked in front of this disgusting, jeering crowd – but she’s still found the courage to volunteer herself.

She knows how fucking huge the Aurelians are. She knows that whichever one of us is led up onto that stage and roughly taken, they most likely won’t be able to walk straight for days; ruined by the Aurelians as they descend into the beast-like mating frenzy.

But Tessa still clings to the last shreds of her humanity. The Aurelians might fuck that clean out of her if they take her, breaking her forever.

I want to believe that the three men have a plan to get us out of here. Iwantto believe it – but the way in which they’re standing, silent and indecisive, shows me that Lord Oblogis truly as in-control of this situation as his arrogance would suggest.

Could I do this? Could I sit back and watch Tessa be taken by the Aurelians?

Could I bear to be separated from them? Trapped with a circle of Toad guards surrounding me, sitting near the obscene Lord Oblog as he eagerly watches what would be its own kind of torture for me?

I’d be helpless, vulnerable, and forced to watch while these three Aurelians –myAurelians – rut with Tessa on stage. I want to keep her safe…

…but it goes deeper.

The Aurelians are always staring at me possessively, but now I realizeI’mthe one who views them as somehowmine.

I couldn’t watch them fucking Tessa on stage. I wouldn’t care that they’re only doing it because they’re being forced to. I know Ishouldbe thinking of every means possible to get away from the Aurelians for all they’ve done – but somehow, I feel drawn to them.

I’ve stayed alive this long by trusting my gut.

As stupid as it sounds to my logical brain, right now my gut is telling me the Aurelians aren’t evil – they’re just inwayover their heads.

“No,” I answer.

I look Tessa square in the eye as I steel myself.

“I can do it,” I insist. “I think… I think there’s some possibility we’re Bonded. I know how crazy that sounds, but…”

Tessa reaches forward and touches my arm, and I instantly understand that she doesn’t think I’m crazy.

“You’ve seen it, too. There’s something more between us – me, and the Aurelians. Maybe…” I gulp. “Maybe it’ll be less painful for me.”

I want to sound strong and certain, but it’s impossible. Those three towering Aurelians make me feel tiny and helpless in their presence

My only hope is that being taken by the Aurelians will be less painful for me than it would be for Tessa – hell, I was on the brink of it with Lucius, until his battle-brother interrupted us…

…but it’s not going to be easy.