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“Wha…what?” I stuttered. Of all the things I expected from my willing abduction, stripping wasn’t one of them.

He studied me, unfazed. “I said, remove your clothing.”

Graem stepped up beside me, and my spine stiffened in dread.

“No.”

“I have something for you. Never in my years of searching would I have imagined a woman to be the bearer of the Alcreon Light. I’ve been envisioning this moment since I first laid eyes on you.”

“I don’t want anything from you,” I spat, hatred dripping from my every word.

“You agreed.”

“I said I would come with you, not do everything you demand.”

I had agreed to go with Erovos, and because I’d given him my word, he hadn’t restrained me. We both knew I wasn’t going anywhere. Not when he could destroy everyone I cared about.

“Now, now. We mustn’t seem ungrateful, must we? I’ve been preparing for this a very long time, my little light. Try not to spoil the mood. Seeing your skin covered in my darkness has been quite a fantasy of mine. Now, take off your clothes. I’m starting to lose my patience.”

“After years of failing and waiting, I’d think you’d be used to it by now.”

“That tongue of yours is going to get you in trouble. If you don’t obey me, I’ll have Graem assist you.”

My lip peeled back into a snarl. He knew full well that he could make me do whatever he wanted, but he would make me agree to every sick step along the way.

“Fine,” I seethed. The thought of Graem undressing me curdled my stomach. “Turn away.”

“No,” he stated, mirroring my tone. “Now, you’ll do as I command, or I’ll slowly torture the man I can smell all over you. What was his name again, Demil?”

Demil cleared his throat and shifted, his hands clasped behind his back. “Rowen Damascus,” he said, his warrior stance faltering.

“Ah, yes. The little lord.”

“Don’t you dare touch him. Don’t even speak his name!” I shrieked, launching myself at the Dark Spirit with unrestrained fury.

Graem’s massive arm shot out and grabbed my wrist in a vice-like grip, halting my momentum. He yanked me back. Hard. And I cried out as my shoulder twisted.

“You have my word that he is not to be harmed. But you must cease this feral behavior and do as I say,” Erovos said, his jaw twitching as he noted the look of pain on my face.

I ground my back teeth, the pressure nearly shattering my molars. “I’ll do it for you, but the giant and traitor have to go,” I rebutted, bargaining however I could to get fewer eyes on me, less enemies seeing me vulnerable.

“Graem, leave us,” Erovos ordered. “The traitor will stay. ”

The giant released me and obediently walked away.

“Oh, and, Graem?” The servant stopped and turned back to look at his master. Erovos released a whip of darkness and lashed him across the face. “That is for hurting her.”

My insides lurched as the giant cried out and touched his wounded cheek. “Go!” Erovos shrieked, and Graem hobbled off into the dark forest whimpering.

Once his massive frame disappeared, Erovos stepped toward me. “See, I am not above compromising and look how well we work together. Now, hand me your clothing.”

My chest heaved with each fuming breath as I slowly peeled off the terracotta robe.

After our bath underneath the stars, Rowen had wrapped me in this dress.

Before he’d removed it again to taste, lick, and kiss every inch of my skin.

And how—after he fully claimed me, body and soul—I had put it back on to surprise him with breakfast in bed.

I fisted the robe to Erovos with my head held high, and he took my clothing from my outstretched hand.

He inspected my naked body without a hint of lust. He looked at me as if I were a piece of clay waiting to be molded. Reshaped.

I refused to shy away and cower even as my insides screamed and revolted. There was only one artist across all the galaxies I’d want to see me this way. And he was back in bed, tousled in the sheets, waiting for me to return.

Demil cast his eyes downward. Despite the small act of decency, I despised him down to his rotten core. Though I wasn’t sure why he acted ashamed. This was all his doing.

Suddenly, Erovos’ veins ignited into black ichor as he redirected the flow of his power into my robe. Billowing smoke poured from him, turning the cloth into a black cloud that engulfed me.

I cried out as it surrounded me, reminding me of the drug- induced dreams I used to have when my mother and my roommate poisoned me.

It was as if I were back there, fighting an invisible darkness.

I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see. And I choked as black ribbons swirled around me, dipping between my breasts and over my shoulders, brushing against my skin in frigid strokes.

They coiled and fused, shaping themselves into a gown of black smoke.

Panting, I inspected how Erovos’ darkness settled over me. The fabric was sheer, with slightly thicker panels around my hips and breasts. Though the dress was floor length, the see-through gossamer did little to conceal my form.

A daring cut-out at the chest left my breasts on the verge of spilling out. The lace fastened at my neck with a hook-and-eye clasp, exposing almost my entire chest.

I pried at the choking collar, but no matter how hard I tried, the misted fabric remained in perfect form. The gown hugged my every curve but did little to guard against the chill that wafted around me and sent tremors through my body.

I pressed my hands to my mouth, but there was nothing left in my stomach to purge, and I heaved. I would rather stand naked than be dressed in a gown fashioned from stolen lives. I wondered who, or what, had died for the energy to fashion it.

“You wear my darkness now, little light,” he said, beaming with pride, but Demil’s gaze remained on the ground.

“Look at her!” Erovos screamed, and Demil obeyed, his light-yellow eyes snapping to mine. Pleading.

“I’m so sorry, Keira,” he said, dressed in the earthy fabric of the Wyn elves. His unique silver circlets glinted in the darkness.

He used to be a welcoming sight, but now, he made me sick.

“Fuck you.”

“Filthy mouth but beguiling form. I can see why she interests you,” Erovos said, wrapping an arm around the warrior’s shoulders.

“Look upon what I promised you, Demil. She is what you asked for? Your reward for delivering the Alcreon Light into my hands. We made a deal: I possess her Light, and you possess her body,” he stated as he motioned to me. “Well, take it.”

Demil’s eyes darted in confusion. “Right now?”

Erovos nodded.

“N-no. You promised I could have her after you removed the Light,” Demil stuttered, his square jaw tensing.

“I never specified when, just that you would. And do you honestly believe anything will be left of her when I’m done? I am bound by my word, but I have a much greater use for her than your petty desires. Your moment is now, and it is fleeting.”

Disgust swarmed my veins. Erovos had given Demil permission to rape me in front of him, but it wasn’t his authority to give.

I stood tall before both men. “Touch me, Demil, and it will be the last thing you ever do. The Light may not hurt him, but it will fry the shit out of you.”

“Keira, I . . . I wouldn’t. I won’t,” Demil said, shaking his head in disgust as if his original plan had been any better. “I thought he would travel to the next world and leave Luneth be. I thought I was saving us.”

“You forfeit your prize then, traitor?” Erovos bellowed.

“I do,” Demil replied.

“Very well, then. Give us our privacy, won’t you?”

The whites around Demil’s eyes widened as Erovos’ gaze swirled like twin black holes—a celestial anomaly.

Suddenly, the Dark Spirit conjured a portal in the same manner Aliphoura had in the Crystal Crypts, and Caeryn the night of the fire.

It was also identical to the one that had brought me here.

The energy taken from the earth and its people was used to create these dark portals, and the fact that Erovos had made two in less than twenty-four hours was horrifying .

How many had to die for him to wield such power? An inconceivable amount, yet somehow not enough to find other worlds without the help of me and Indrasyl.

My thoughts vanished as Erovos hurled Demil into the dark portal with no more than a flick of his wrist.

Dread gripped my lungs as the once vibrant warrior vanished.

I couldn’t grasp how it was the same man who helped lift me up after his sister knocked me to the ground.

He was a brilliant warrior who offered to train me and fought to free the missing villages from Aliphoura’s wrath.

He ultimately wanted to save Luneth, but had chosen the worst way possible, and failed.

“Where did you send him?” I demanded, not sure why I was so terrified of the answer.

“Graem will keep him in line for now. Who knows, I may have further use for him.” Erovos gripped my shoulders as he eyed me up and down. “You do make quite the sacrificial vessel, my little light. Now, let us begin.”