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A flash of hot rage tore through me and I tried to move, to strike at him, but my limbs were leaden, clamped to my sides.

The dark power that lived inside me stirred to life and a breath of surprise escaped me as my fingers curled into fists.

I could do nothing more than that, but it was something. A glimmer of possibility.

Kaiser looked me in the eye and a sadistic power gleamed within those obsidian coins, a glint of red telling of his Fury Order, proving how close it was to the surface.

But he was not the only beast in this room; I had teeth and claws of my own and I would use them against him as soon as I broke through his possession.

“I’ll never submit to this,” I told him plain and clear. “I will never give in.”

“Then you will burn from the inside out in a blaze of Nightfire,” he said darkly. “If you think you have felt the worst of it yet, I assure you, you are mistaken.”

I tried to summon more of the strange power I held that had made his Order recede in the chamber beneath the Keep. It had done things no magic should be capable of. But it was dormant inside me again, unable to be wielded, like it had whims of its own.

The words Kaiser had spoken about this soul-tie rattled through my skull. “You will suffer so that I might thrive.”

I set my jaw, determination setting my heart aflame.

I would not give in to the wants of this asshole.

If he thought I would bow to his Nightfire, then he would soon discover that I would rather burn for all eternity than play puppet for my enemy.

I’d figure out how to control the power I possessed, then he would see what I was made of.

Kaiser finished cleaning my wounds and walked away into the bathroom with the bowl and bloodied cloth in hand.

When he returned, he was holding a dark green jar and as he took the lid from it, a scent of lilac and honey reached me from the thick white substance inside.

He dipped two fingers into it then ran them across the cut on my left thigh, making me gasp at the cool kiss of it.

His fingers grazed the edge of my underwear and a shiver ran through me that was followed by a wave of revulsion at how my body had reacted to the feel of his skin against mine.

He repeated the process, marking me with that white substance which slowly but surely melted into my wounds and disappeared, taking the slice of pain with it.

His fingers roamed my body, seeking out each injury and making me seethe at how assuredly he traced my skin, like I was his to touch and no one else’s.

He finished applying the poultice and my wounds tingled as a deep numbness settled in, the worst of the pain banished from them. But I would rather they burned eternally than feel an ounce of gratitude toward him.

“You will return to me if these injuries do not improve,” Kaiser’s voice cut through the quiet like a knife. “Now shift and use the rooftops to go to your quarters. Do not be seen. And do not come out again until dawn.”

At once, I had my body back within my control and I lunged at him with a hellish cry, my fist slamming into his face as I tried to knock him over.

He caught me by the waist and tossed me to the floor with force, the impact only spurring me into action.

I dove for my dagger with a surge of adrenaline, unsheathing it and springing upright like a wildcat.

His death was the only thing in this world I thirsted for like this, but as I swung my blade for his throat, the Nightfire flared, twisting through my veins and near-blinding me with the intensity of the pain.

Kaiser stood over me as I crashed to my knees, my dagger tight in my grip, but the agony of the fire immobilised me in an instant.

As I was forced to submit, the flames in my body fluttered out of existence and I pushed onto my knees. A ragged breath raked through my lungs and I glared up at my monster, vowing his end upon Pisces, Scorpio and Cancer. He would fall, come what fucking may, Kaiser Brimtheon would fall.

He beckoned me to my feet with two fingers, seeming entirely unaffected by what I’d done, his mouth pressed into a flat line as his possession snaked through my limbs and forced me to obey.

I rose before him, grip still tight on the hilt of my dagger, but there was no way to attempt another stab.

“Striking at me is pointless,” he stated. “I do not care how many times it takes you to learn that lesson, but a smart Fae would learn it quickly.”

He stepped nearer, devouring my personal space and making me tilt my head back to keep my eyes on his.

“Now go to your room like a good girl. The soul-tie will demand that you return to me soon.”

“I will never return,” I vowed in a hiss.

“You have no idea how deep this magic runs, silka la vin,” he said, a warning veiled between those words. “You are my Fearsire and the meaning of that name will soon spark a terror in you that you will never forget.”

A cold, thick dread sank deep into my chest, the promise in his eyes like a knife in my heart.

“Now go,” he commanded.

His possession made me leap away from him and shift into my white Leopard form. My paws hit the floorboards and I snatched my dagger between my teeth, running for the window and knocking it wide with a swipe of my claws before diving out onto the rooftop below.

The snow pelted my fur and blurred my vision as I ran, offering me the cover I needed to make it back to the Vault of Frost unseen.

Kaiser’s possession willed me on and the wind howled with a mournful wail as it witnessed what had become of me. Everest Arcadia. A prisoner of Pyros.