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The ceiling stretches impossibly high, with cells lining the walls in circles that rise all the way to the top. The center remains open, creating a dizzying atrium effect where every cell is visible from the ground floor. Pale moonlight filters through skylights, casting elongated shadows across the stone floor.

“It’s bigger than I expected,” I say, my voice sounding small in the vast space.

“The nobles enjoy their options,” he says simply, his hand settling at the small of my back. “And you have your pick of the entire lot. Now, allow me to take you on the grand tour.”

He holds out a hand, and I take it, squeezing it to ground myself.

“You’re going to do great,” he assures me, as if he cansense my nerves. “You’ll know which one is right for you when you meet them.”

It’s the same advice we gave people when they came by the animal shelter where I volunteered that one summer. As if I’m here to adopt a stray.

But I don’t shudder. I don’t give away a hint of emotion. My immortal future is on the line, and I won’t have Aerix doubt my ability to handle what’s coming next.

He has no reason to doubt it—because Icanhandle what’s coming next.

So, I walk next to him with my head held high, looking at each person we pass. In one cell, a man stares blankly at the wall. In another, a woman flinches at our approach, pressing herself into the corner. Another sits perfectly still, as if hoping to become invisible.

I pause at a cell where a young man watches us with calculating eyes.

“No men,” Aerix reminds me, his body stiffening, his wings flaring. “No man other than me is going to touch you ever again.”

“As they shouldn’t,” I assure him, yanking my gaze away from the man and continuing forward.

That’s when I see her.

Sophia sits on a narrow cot in her cell, her posture ramrod straight. Her clothes are different now. Plainand utilitarian—nothing like the elegant outfits she wore in the human wing.

But unlike the others, Sophia doesn’t cower. Instead, she watches us, her eyes following our movements with a clarity that seems out of place in this living hell.

Aerix says nothing when I stop in front of her cell. He simply stands beside me, his magic a cool, constant presence as I process what I’m seeing.

Sophia rises to her feet, approaching the bars with deliberate steps.

“Zoey,” she says, soft but steady. No tremor, no tears. Just recognition.

“Sophia,” I reply, studying her. Even here, stripped of everything, there’s dignity in the way she holds herself.

“Taking a tour?” she asks, her eyes flickering to Aerix before returning to me.

He steps forward, ice crackling at his fingertips as his wings spread in a display of dominance.

“Not just a tour,” he says, his voice carrying a musical lilt of satisfaction as he speaks. “She’s here to choose her first pet. You see, tonight is a special night for my consort. Tonight, I’ll transform her into something magnificent. Something eternallymine.”

The temperature drops around us as his magic intensifies, frost patterns forming on the bars of Sophia’s cell.

“She’ll be mine to worship forever,” he continues, hisvoice dropping to that possessive register that makes my skin tingle. “My masterpiece. Perfect in every way.”

The way he says it—like I’m already immortal, already his forever—makes me step closer to him, as if I’m assuring him that I’m going to be everything he wants me to be and more.

Sophia’s eyes narrow, her gaze shifting from Aerix back to me.

“You think this makes you powerful?” She gestures at my dress, my posture, my place beside Aerix. “Because it doesn’t. You’re becoming the exact thing we feared.”

“And look where fear got you,” I reply simply. Not cold. Not cruel.

Just honest.

Sophia steps back from the bars, still maintaining eye contact. “We all make choices,” she says. “I hope you don’t regret yours.”