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"What are you?" I demanded, summoning every ounce of courage I possessed. "What is this place?"

The shadow creature undulated, expanding and contracting like a grotesque lung taking its first breath. More shadows flowed into it from all directions, increasing its mass until it towered over me, a monolith of darkness against the colorless sky.

"This is the between," it whispered, its voice somehow both distant and intimately close, as if speaking directly into my mind. "The place where all things end."

"I don't understand," I said, continuing to back away. "Why am I here?"

The creature extended what might have been an arm, or a wing, or a tentacle, I couldn't tell, toward me. "Because you will be ours."

"No," I shook my head, finding my spine. "I belong to my mates. Our bond is sealed."

A sound like broken glass grinding together emanated from the creature—laughter, I realized with horror.

"Your mates cannot protect you from what comes," it said. "The claiming means nothing. The bond is weak. And when darkness falls…" The voice trailed off, leaving a ominous pit in my stomach.

More shadows peeled away from the ground, rising up around me like a grotesque forest of writhing tendrils. They reached for me, brushing against my skin with touches so cold they burned, leaving trails of numbness in their wake.

"Soon you will be ours," the shadows chittered in unison, their voices a discordant symphony of promises and threats. "All of you will be ours."

The mass of shadows surged toward me, a tidal wave of darkness threatening to engulf me. I tried to run, but my feet were rooted to the spot, the dead grass somehow wound around my ankles like manacles.

"No!" I screamed, reaching desperately inside myself for my power, for any connection to the spirits who had always protected me. "Get away from me!"

But there was nothing. No familiar surge of energy. No ghostly allies coming to my aid. In this place, my powers were as dead as the landscape around me.

The shadow mass was almost upon me now, its many appendages reaching out to claim me. I could feel its hunger, its ancient malevolence washing over me in waves of nauseating cold.

"Soon," it whispered again, a single word loaded with terrible promise. "Soon. Soon. Soon."

The darkness engulfed me, a thousand icy touches against my skin, invading my nose, my mouth, my ears, trying topenetrate to my very core. I couldn't breathe, couldn't scream, couldn't fight as the shadows violated every barrier, seeking something deep within me.

With one last desperate effort, I reached for the bonds I'd formed with my three mates, clinging to the warmth of those connections like a lifeline in a frozen sea.

"CALLUM!" I screamed in my mind, pouring every ounce of terror and need into that silent cry. "ROWEN! ARCHER! HELP ME!"

The shadows pressed closer, a suffocating weight of ancient evil.

"Soon," it whispered again, and this time I felt the truth of its words down to my marrow.

I wrenched myself awake with a silent scream, my body jerking so violently that I nearly fell from the bed.

19

Rowen

Iwoke to the sound of sobbing.

Not the gentle weeping of sadness, but the soul-deep, body-wracking cries of pure terror. My eyes snapped open, obsidian-dark vision instantly piercing the shadows of our chamber.

Sierra bolted upright beside me, her body trembling violently. Her silver hair stuck to her tear-streaked face, and her eyes. Gods, her eyes were wild with a fear I'd never seen before. Not even when she'd first discovered what I truly was.

"Sierra," I said, my voice rough with sleep. When she didn't respond, just continued those terrible sobs, I moved quickly, pulling her into my arms. "I'm here. You're safe."

Her skin was ice-cold against mine, as if she'd been submerged in freezing water. The scent of her fear was sharp and acrid, overwhelming the usual honey-sweet smell that clung to her skin. It set my demon instincts on high alert, my tail materializing and lashing behind me in agitation.

"Cold," she gasped between sobs, her fingers digging into my arms with surprising strength. "So cold. They're coming. They're coming for us all."

I tightened my hold, letting my natural heat envelop her. As ruler of the underworld, fire was in my very essence. I channeled it now, not to burn but to warm.