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“Run,” he bellowed.

So I ran.

My heartbeat’sthuds matched the rhythm of my footsteps. Thank God I’d memorized the way back to his room and the way to the bathing area. It was near the spot I’d first managed to get out of this maze-like castle.

Adrenaline and panic surged through my veins. He told me to avoid him until he passed out. He was giving me a chance to live, even after he’d been dead set on ending my life.

I pumped my arms, speeding through the corridor. I was so close to the terrace where I’d fallen through the hole, the only way ‘out’ I could think about escaping through.

The archway was the same as the last time, except once I stepped onto the platform, the sky was no longer lit up, it had turned a deep, blood red, and begun to darken to the void-like color of Corvus’s eyes. Pitch black and seemingly endless.

The hair on my arms lifted like there was an electrical charge, and I panted, shuffling over the dark ground. My eyes had adjusted to allow me to make out shapes, but there had been so many vines to trip on, so I took my time shuffling over to the hole in the same spot as last time. Flames licked the sides of the castle from the flickering torches lodged into the side of the brick.

I peered down the sharp incline, and from this vantage, I could see how I had managed to not splat; the side of the castle served as a sort of slide.

I needed a board to sit on, so my skin wouldn’t tear on the rough, brick surface. Chewing on my lip, I scanned the platform and scrambled around, patting my hands against the crunch of foliage. The side of my hand banged into the lip of something, and I squinted, wiggling my fingers under the flat surface. A discolored piece of wood peeked through the dried foliage.

Hastily, I pulled at the board, managing to wiggle it. Getting to my knees, I scrambled to shove away the vines growing around the wood. With one side swipe of my palm, I exposed more of the board.

Yessss, this would work if I managed to untangle it from the vine embedded into the edge.

A frightening roar echoed from inside the castle.

My pulse jumped, but it wasn’t from fear; I felt for him. He sounded agonized.

He’d been so frantic . . . I closed my eyes and let out a gust of air, trying to calm my pounding heart.

The violent image of the sharp bar slicing through his body wouldn’t leave my thoughts, nor would the pain rippling over his features.

The reality was: he was a lonely, pained creature who would spend eternity in agony.

What was I doing? Once I escaped, I could run to the village we’d been to, but how would I survive? The pregnant human I saw had been with a Novian, but would anyone take me in?

I stopped shoving at the dried foliage and stood to face the entrance of the archway, lifting my chin. Swiping my damp palms against the linen dress, I gripped the cross hanging from my neck and waited for him to arrive.

Even if I managed to get back to my world, nothing was waiting for me. Unlike before, the thought of returning didn’t fill me with anything but dread.

I’d gone and screwed myself over—I’d fallen in love with a monster.

I exhaled slowly, acknowledging the truth. Corvus wasn’t misunderstood—he was a cruel, evil creature—who I loved.

And the fact was, if he did become unconscious, he’d succumb to eternal sleep. If it was a restful one, that was something I could perhaps live with, but I’d seen him writhe in agony. If he was trapped like that for eternity . . .

I breathed out slowly, squaring my shoulders.

At least my pain would be fleeting.

It didn’t take him much longer to appear. He heaved at the entrance, eyelids lowered to show a sliver of his pitch-black eyes. Black liquid dripped from the wound on his chest that was already beginning to knit together.

“I said,run,” he hissed.

A knot throbbed in my throat—painful, aching, and resolved. He’d impaled himself for me; the least I could do was go peacefully.

He moved so fast it was difficult for my eyes to track, and he took my arms in a stiff hold, snarling in my face.

He ripped my dress, pinning me against the rough surface of the wall.

From the pump of his wings, the wind whipped my hair around my face. Corvus forced my legs apart and seated himself deep inside me. He ground himself against me as if trying to meld me to him.