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Chapter Eleven

ARABELLA

A rabella blinked, finding herself in the center of a darkness quite unlike the Abyss.

She floated in a place void of light with no horizon, no sky, and no other sign of life. As her feet touched down where the ground should be, she glanced down at her hands, which glowed with a gray-white light.

The dream , she realized. This is the same dream I had about Elias .

Why had she returned to this place now?

Heart racing, she glanced around and scanned the surrounding darkness.

Empty.

He’s not here.

Something inside her chest twisted.

Even if the phantom Elias appeared, it was just a conjuring of her mind. It wouldn’t be her erox.

Instinctively, she reached for the bond in her chest. There was the faintest flicker of flames, but she still couldn’t tell what he was feeling. She wondered if Magnus was torturing him at that very moment.

While she needed to learn to control what she felt down the bond when they returned to the mortal and fae realms, she found herself missing the sensations, even the pain, because it served as a reminder that he was out there.

That he was alive.

Another thought struck her.

Would the Elias she rescued be the same male, or would these experiments forever change him?

Something tickled her cheek.

Reaching up, she was surprised to find a tear there.

Was it possible to cry in dreams? She wasn’t sure she ever had before.

As tears rolled down her cheeks, she succumbed to the deep sadness filling her—and a deeper regret for the time they’d wasted at odds with one another.

Please, she thought, reaching for the flickering flames in her chest. I need you.

The shadows around her twisted as though awakening from a deep slumber.

Suddenly, something strummed in her chest. It was as though a harp chord had been plucked, and a single, long note reverberated. The vibration rippled out from her, and then a gray-blue light shimmered on the distant horizon.

Brows drawing together, she stared at where she’d seen the flash of light.

“Elias!” she shouted.

No reply came.

Get it together, she scolded herself . You’re an enchantress.

Could she not allow herself a moment of weakness even in her dreams? She always had to be strong, always had to have an answer, a solution—or people would die. The humans of Shadowbank wouldn’t be reassured by anything other than confidence. And that was exactly what she strived for.

Still, she longed to crumple into herself, to scream until her lungs were raw, and to just feel .

Unlike before, she didn’t just have the safety of Shadowbank to consider. Now, she had someone she wanted to protect.

She’d found something she’d never expected to in her lifetime—her mate. Her perfect match in every way. Somehow, she’d found her counterpart in a demon. Would she ever have a chance to be by his side again? Or would Magnus kill one or both of them first?

Somehow, she had to find a way to save Elias and her home.

“Elias,” she whispered into the darkness as more tears tumbled down her cheeks. “ Please .”

She didn’t know what she was asking. All she knew was that she longed to feel his touch with every fiber of her being.

There was a shift in the darkness behind her, and she turned toward it.

For a moment, it felt like time slowed. A single tear rolled down her cheek as her chest rose and fell with a single breath.

Elias stood before her, utterly naked.

His light brown skin shone with an otherworldly gray-blue light. A different shimmer glowed in the depths of his eyes, which turned from a dark brown to a brilliant blue—as though a flame had taken form there.

From experience, she knew what the change in the color of his eyes meant.

He was eager to feed.

Black hair came to his bare shoulders and was more disheveled than she’d ever seen it.

Curls stuck out in every direction, and there were dark smudges beneath his eyes like he hadn’t slept in days.

His high cheekbones were sharper, and even though his beard was longer now, it couldn’t hide the gauntness in his cheeks.

I’m projecting my fears into this landscape , she thought.

Even still, he was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.

Another tear slipped free as she said, “You’re here.”

He closed the distance between them in an instant.

Hands were in her unbound hair, fingers slipping between the strands at the back of her head. He pulled, forcing her to tilt her chin upward. She opened to him willingly, and his tongue ravished her mouth. The way he moved… It was like he needed to explore every inch of her. To know her body.

He ran his teeth over her lower lip, nipping gently. Then he pulled back, his arms looping loosely around her and his hands stroking.

But when his lips moved, no sounds came.

She frowned. “What?”

Again, his lips formed words, but the dark world around them was completely silent.

Lines formed between her brows. “I can’t understand you.”

What could this phantom Elias be trying to tell her? She studied his mouth, but she was unskilled with reading lips.

It was just a dream, she knew. But she longed to hear his voice all the same. She hungered for any words from her mate.

Elias shook his head before he crashed into her once more. His lips found hers in a feverish frenzy, moving like he intended to claim her, to remind her who she belonged to.

My heart is yours, she thought as she melted into his touch, feeling his arms wrap around her back. He pulled her in so she was pressed against him, and she felt every line of his body. The muscles rippling along his abdomen. The way his chest heaved. It was as though he was breathing her in…

Like she was the most precious thing in his world.

As he kissed her, his fingers slipped into her hair, and he pulled .

The pressure wasn’t enough to truly hurt, but she reveled in the delicious sting of it.

There was something about the feel of her mate using her body, moving her as he wished.

Damn her, she wanted to fulfill his every desire, just as she knew he wanted to fulfill hers.

Something flickered in the blue flames in his eyes. Pulling back, his gaze raked across her face.

That one look had her core melting.

Desire pooled in her, and she could feel herself growing wet with need.

For a moment, she wondered if the phantom Elias could scent that desire because hunger filled his gaze as his nostrils flared.

Then he descended upon her once more. As he kissed her, the desire in her core swelled further, and for a moment, the need was so strong that she couldn’t breathe.

Spread me. Fill me. Fuck me.

She didn’t want him to be gentle. She wanted a touch so intense, so consuming that she’d feel bruises where his fingers pressed into her skin. But instead of pulling off her leathers, he continued to kiss her, never releasing her hair.

Her fingernails raked over his chest, leaving marks. This only seemed to incense him further because he pulled back. His eyes glowed a brilliant blue, brighter than anything she’d ever seen.

Then pleasure was ripped from her.

She cried out as starlight burst behind her eyes. Wave after wave of pleasure crashed over her, so hard she thought she might drown. Even as the height of her pleasure peaked, she thrust against his thigh, desperate for any kind of friction.

But he didn’t have to touch her for her to come.

Erox consumed the sexual pleasures of their partners, and they didn’t have to touch their prey for them to reach climax. But Elias… he liked to touch her, to torture her with the promise of pleasure. He so rarely just fed on her.

But the telltale humming in her chest filled her as her essence swelled, flowing up her throat.

His grip on her hair tightened, forcing her to tilt her head back even more. Her essence was a brilliant blue—the same color as his eyes. And he sucked it into his mouth.

The essence that he could wield.

As he fed, she watched as some of the gauntness in his cheeks faded before her very eyes.

Releasing her hair, his hands moved to her pants, untying them at the waist before pulling them halfway down. Then he turned her around, forcing her onto her hands and knees. As though he couldn’t wait long enough to pull them off.

She tried to turn around, to see what he was doing. But the moment he saw her turning toward him, his fingers closed around the back of her neck, forcing her head down.

Damn her, she wanted him to lose himself inside her—to fuck her until her body was raw from sating his need.

Something pressed against her ass, and it took her a moment to realize he’d spat and then notched his cock there.

Oh.

They’d never tried that before, and she swallowed thickly.

This is just a dream , she thought, though she wasn’t sure why she needed reminding.

Even if it hurt, she wanted him to fuck her.

Grabbing her hip in one hand and his cock in another, he pressed. She gasped, her breath hitching as he slipped inch by inch into her.

It was unlike when he filled her pussy. This felt far more sensitive.

The fullness of him was almost too much, but he moved slowly.

She felt herself stretch as his wide cock pressed deeper into her ass.

His shallow thrusts allowed her to adjust to the size of him—and the feel of him there.

Gradually, she relaxed into him. As she did, she felt pleasure building in her core once more.

Again, fingers slipped into her hair as he grabbed it and pulled, forcing her to submit to him fully. She was utterly at his mercy.

His movements became faster, increasing in both quickness and… need . It was as if, even though their bodies were joined, it wasn’t enough. He needed more of her.

And she needed more of him.

Her hands and knees pressed into the fathomless darkness beneath where she kneeled, and her shadows swirled around them. Tendrils curled around his calves and her arms, never stopping moving, as though feeding off their shared pleasure.