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F ilak strode out of the darkness with long, swift steps, his hands in fists at his sides, his shadowed eyes flashing with rage.

Daisy’s heartbeat screamed in her ears, and she shoved closer against the wall behind her, scrabbling uselessly against it. Filak was here. He’d come back. And he looked even angrier than before, like a vengeful fiend come to devour, to destroy.

“ Nei ,” he snarled toward them, through bared white teeth. “ Daisy er mín .”

Wait — what? Daisy was — his?

Daisy blinked, stared, not thinking, not breathing — while Rosa rounded toward Filak , her pointed chin raised. “ Daisy er ekki tín ,” she snapped back. “ Tú lokaeir hana inni í dyflissu! ”

The words again didn’t make sense, but her contempt and anger were all too clear, and Filak growled back toward her in kind, with something that might have been a curse. But then his hard shadowed eyes flicked toward Daisy , and… held. Shifted . Changed .

And for a halting, dangling instant, caught in those deep glinting eyes, Daisy thought maybe — maybe he would apologize. Maybe he would come to her, stroke her with his warm steady hands, murmur soft meaningless words into her ear. And he would somehow explain all of it, explain the chain and the kraga and the kidnapping, explain Julian , call her his sól …

But then his eyes dropped downwards, narrowing on the broken chain still dangling from the wall beside her. And with a swift movement, he closed the distance between them, and snatched the chain into his long clawed fingers.

“ Nei, Daisy ,” he hissed, his voice harsh and low. “ ég sagei tér ae bíea .”

Oh. It wasn’t an apology, of course it wasn’t, and Daisy’s quivering hopefulness plummeted, cracking into fear and dread and despair. And too late she staggered backwards, shaking her head, raising her trembling hands between them. No , no, not again, what else would he do, please…

She only vaguely heard Gareth’s low voice, heavy with warning, but Filak snapped something back, and lurched closer toward Daisy . His head tilting, his nostrils flaring, as his hand swiped for — her wrist. Closing tightly around it, yanking it up toward him, twisting her palm up, and showing —

Oh. Blood . Daisy’s raw, bloody hand, scraped and broken from where she’d so desperately yanked at the chain, and fought to break free.

The sight of it heaved in her belly, and she tried to wrench her hand away, to hide, to escape — but Filak held it firm, his grip hard and uncompromising, his eyes glowering down toward it, as if it was a personal affront, somehow. And when he finally met her gaze again, the rage in his eyes flashed even sharper, his lips again curling back to show all those sharp white teeth.

“ Nei, Daisy ,” he snarled, with palpable menace. “ Tú mátt ekki skaea sjálfa tig svona. ”

It meant nothing but more anger, more of him saying no, no, no , with that painfully familiar fury and disapproval again flashing in his eyes. As if he truly hated her, his teeth so hungry and vicious, his strong hand raising hers toward his mouth. He was going to bite her, he was going to hurt her again, maybe even kill her, no —

Daisy gulped and flailed backwards, as more bitter screeching panic careened through her chest, her skull. “ Nei , Filak ,” she gasped. “ Nei , please, please!”

But he only lunged for her again, sudden and close and horrifying. And Daisy didn’t even feel his tongue, licking like that against her palm, because there was only pure terror now, wheeling and wailing, shuddering her all over, escaping in harsh, helpless gasps from her convulsing throat. Weeping , oh gods, she was weeping and cowering, fighting to cover her eyes, to escape, to disappear.

“Please,” she gasped, between her hoarse, desperate sobs. “ Please , Filak , don’t . I know you hate me, I know you don’t want me, but — but —”

But then — chaos. Voices shouting, bodies thudding and colliding, grunts and scrapes and curses. And Filak’s touch was gone, his tongue was gone — and when Daisy risked a glance upwards, Julian and Gareth were dragging Filak backwards, Gareth’s face hard and grim, Julian’s shocked and pale. And Julian was muttering into Filak’s ear, the words a low rapid garble, while Rosa’s sharp voice rang over all the rest. Shouting in more harsh foreign words, laced with fury and disbelief.

For a breath, Filak’s eyes held to Daisy’s , looking even more terrifying than before, cruel black shadows ringed with vivid white — but then he growled back toward Rosa , and knocked off Julian’s arm. And he began speaking too, his voice low and urgent, his teeth still bared, his sharp-taloned hand waving toward —

More people?

But yes, good gods, that was an entire group of new people, rushing out of the darkness. Several new women, and — new orcs . Multiple new orcs, with harsh faces and huge hulking bodies, crowding and jostling into this too-small stone room. All of them staring straight at Daisy , some with furious frowns on their unfamiliar angry faces, and this wasn’t happening, what was happening, had Filak done this, were they going to kill her, oh gods, oh gods —

Daisy couldn’t find air, couldn’t stand, couldn’t think, and her wild, frantic eyes again caught on — Filak . Filak , looming there before all of them, his shoulders heaving, his eyes glinting on hers with strange, bleak intensity.

And for a brief, humiliating moment, holding those shadowed eyes, Daisy almost crumpled beneath the overpowering urge to run to him, to cling to him, to beg. To fall at his feet, to swear to do anything he asked, if only he would forgive her, free her from this sickening, horrifying nightmare. If only he would take her back, back to the magical moment when he’d caressed her, when he’d sworn to care for her, to keep her safe, to sweep her off into the dream…

Daisy mín. Sólin mín.

But no. No . Filak had done this to her. Filak had destroyed her entire life. Filak had trapped her here in this endless hell, with all these terrifying new strangers, all of them watching as Daisy cowered and whimpered and wept. And now they would — they would —

A woman. Breaking free from the throng, and stepping forward. Her pale face rippling and twisting through Daisy’s wet eyes, her outstretched hand looking like a snake, ready to attack, to kill…

“I’m Jule , and this is my mate Grimarr , the captain of this mountain,” the woman said, with a nod toward the huge, menacing figure close behind her. “ And I’m sorry to meet you like this, Daisy , but I’m afraid we’ve had a very serious accusation against you.”

A very serious accusation . It wasn’t possible, this couldn’t be happening, no, no, no…

“An accusation,” the woman continued, quiet but certain, “that you’ve come to kill us all.”