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“Once upon a time I lived within the breadth between minutes. Just five minutes longer. That had been my mantra. And somehow, by the grace of the Great Luna, I had survived. Now, the idea of five minutes longer is too much. I am tired. I miss my mate. At this point, what does five minutes longer even mean if only that I will be tortured longer in this desolate place wondering if all the people I love were suffering because of my selfish choices. For the first time in my life, I am tired of fighting. I don’t want five minutes longer. ” ~ Jewel

T he clearing was chaos, a cacophony of raised voices, trembling earth, and the oppressive hum of ancient, malevolent power.

Myanin stood rigid, her hands clenched into fists at her sides as she stared down Shade, her golden eyes blazing with fury.

She’d seen Fane, Heather, and Andora come flying out of the book, right past Raja and into the clearing with everyone else.

But other than a glance as they flew by, she’d kept her gaze on Shade.

The Nushtonia pulsed violently on the ground between them, the runes along its surface glowing brighter with each passing second.

Black smoke—thick, oily, alive—continued to pour from its cursed pages, twisting upward into the monstrous, half-formed figure of Raja.

Shade stood before her, his expression hard and unyielding, but Myanin could see the cracks in his resolve. His dark eyes flickered with something that wasn’t quite fear, but it wasn’t confidence either. He looked like a man standing at the edge of a precipice, unsure whether to leap or retreat.

“What have you done?” Myanin’s words were laced with venom. She took a step forward, her movements slow and deliberate, like a predator stalking its prey. “Do you even realize the mess you’ve made? Or are you too blinded by your own self-righteousness to see it?”

Shade’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t respond.

“You’re a fool, Shade,” she spat out, her anger bubbling over.

“A reckless, selfish fool. Look!” She gestured wildly to Raja’s form as the ruler stretched as if waking from a long slumber.

“All you’ve done is bring chaos. You’ve put all of us, every single one of us, in danger.

For what? Because you think I belong to you ? ”

His lips parted, but before he could answer, Myanin cut him off with a sharp laugh, bitter and cold.

“You don’t get to speak, Shade.”

“You literally just asked me a question,” he growled back at her.

Myanin laughed. “Just because I ask you a question doesn’t mean I actually want to hear the damn answer from your mouth.

It’s called a rhetorical question, fool.

” Her hands were fisted so tightly that she could feel her nails leaving impressions in her palms. “What the hell were you thinking?” She roared at him, her breathing coming in rapid succession.

“You already asked me that,” he snapped back.

She threw her hands in the air and bellowed. “Why are you talking?”

“I’m beginning to feel like this conversation is no longer making progress.

” Myanin heard Jen’s voice somewhere behind her, and she nearly let out a relieved sigh.

She never thought she’d be happy to hear the mouthy blonde’s voice again.

But it was almost as good as eating cotton candy.

Almost. Too bad the dumbass in front of her was jacking up her reunion with everyone.

Before either of them could say another word, a bellow cut through the chaos, raw and filled with anguish.

“JEWEL!”

Myanin’s head snapped toward the sound, her heart lurching as she saw Dalton standing near the Nushtonia.

His broad shoulders heaved, and his eyes were wide with panic as he looked down past Raja’s massive form.

His voice broke as he shouted again, his hands clenched into fists.

“Where is she? Where’s Jewel? Why did Fane, Heather, and Andora come out but not my Jewel? ”

Something in Myanin shifted. The red haze of her anger toward Shade cleared just enough for her to focus on something other than her rage at the male. Without a second thought, she shoved Shade aside, her strength sending him stumbling back a step, and moved to Dalton’s side.

“What is it?” she demanded, her sharp gaze following his line of sight. And then she saw it.

Far below, down in the fissure that had opened like a wound in the book, Jewel stood.

The healer’s face was pale, her emerald eyes wide with terror as she looked up at them.

The light from the fissure bathed her in a golden glow, making her look otherworldly, fragile.

She was trapped, teetering on the edge of something far worse than death.

“Why is it always the damn healers?” Myanin muttered and rolled her eyes.

Behind her, voices rose in a chorus of confusion and anger. Fane’s deep, commanding voice rang out above the others as he turned his glare on Raja. “Why hasn’t she been let go?” he demanded. “You threw the others out. Why is she still down there? You’re free. Let her go.”

Raja’s laughter rumbled through the clearing, low and menacing.

“You know why, wolf.” His voice dripped with mockery.

His massive, smoky form twisted slightly, his glowing eyes narrowing as he looked down at Fane.

“It was only hours ago that I explained it. Surely, you haven’t forgotten already. A sacrifice must be made.”

Fane’s face twisted in fury, his fists clenching at his sides. “She’s innocent! She’s a healer—a healer! She doesn’t deserve this!”

“Nobody is innocent. And deserving has nothing to do with it,” Raja replied, his tone cold and final. “Her light is the key. She is the key. Her light is bound to my darkness. If she leaves, I will be free.”

Behind Myanin, the voices of the others rose, fierce and determined.

“Not happening,” Jen snapped. “We’ve already lost too much. You don’t get to take her, too.”

“Damn right.” Kara’s voice trembled with anger as she stepped forward. “We’ve fought too hard for too long. We’re not losing anyone else.”

Stella crossed her arms, her brown eyes blazing. “You’re not taking her. Not while we’re still breathing.”

“And you sure as hell aren’t taking her while I’m around,” Heather growled, her sightless eyes narrowing. “Blind or not, I’ll find a way to take you down.”

Myanin barely heard them. She locked her gaze on Raja, her mind racing as his words settled over her like a suffocating blanket.

A sacrifice. Always a damn sacrifice. It was the same story, over and over again.

In her long, long life, she had seen it countless times.

But there was always an exception. Always a loophole.

Her eyes narrowed as she studied Raja, her sharp mind piecing together what he wasn’t saying. He was trying to work around it, trying to avoid the one thing he didn’t want to admit. But she had seen enough, lived enough, to know the truth.

The ultimate sacrifice wasn’t about power. It wasn’t about light or darkness. It was about love. It was about laying down one’s life for another. Right?

She turned to look at the group around her, at the faces of the people she had come to care for.

Gerick, her mate, and the best man she’d ever known.

Tenia, her best friend who, for some reason, tolerated her.

Torion, a weird kid, but one she cared for nonetheless.

Even Skender with all his baggage. She cared for all of them.

These were her people now, and she couldn’t let them lose someone else. Not Jewel.

Her decision was made before Raja could even see it coming.

He roared as he realized what she was about to do, his massive form twisting violently, but Myanin was faster.

With a burst of speed, she shoved Dalton out of the way “Get the hell out of the way, you idiotic wolf.” She dove toward the Nushtonia as though it were an ocean, her lithe body twisting in the air before she disappeared into the book.

The world around her shifted violently, and she landed hard on the ground beside Jewel. The healer’s wide, terrified eyes met hers, but Myanin didn’t hesitate. She grabbed Jewel, her muscles burning as she lifted the smaller woman.

“Great Luna, give me strength,” she whispered in desperation.

And then she threw Jewel upward, Myanin’s prayer had been answered because she no longer had supernatural strength, but she was able to propel the healer out of the fissure.

The last thing Myanin saw was another figure tumbling down, and then the light vanished, the fissure snapping shut.

But the ruler of the Realm of the Dead did not join her.

He hadn’t been trapped back in like she’d thought would surely happen as soon as she took Jewel’s place.

As soon as Myanin became the sacrifice—because that’s what Raja had said was needed, a sacrifice—he shouldn’t have been freed.

Right? It should have worked. “What the hell?” Myanin bit out through her teeth as a thud landed beside her.

She looked over to see Shade land beside her, his dark eyes meeting hers.

“Why the hell are you here and not that damn evil thing you let loose?” Myanin narrowed her eyes on him.

Shade shook his head with silent, humorless, laughter. “You’re still as impulsive and impertinent as you always have been.”

“Impulsive, yes, but I am not impertinent.” Myanin ground her teeth as she glared at him.

“Right.” Shade chuckled. “Because killing a djinn elder is completely sane and respectful.”

“ That has nothing to do with why we are stuck in this damn book and Raja also isn’t stuck here considering I just saved Jewel.

He should be trapped in this hellhole of a book, and you should not be.

I don’t even know why the hell I’m talking to you.

” Myanin pushed up to her feet and dusted her hands off on her pants.

“It has everything to do with it,” Shade argued, “because what you just did was both impulsive and impertinent. Were you listening to what Raja said? He didn’t say it had to be a sacrifice.

He said it had to be her. It had to be the healer you tossed out or else he’d be free.

But were you listening? No.” Shade shook his head. “You were too busy being?—”

“I was too busy trying to figure out a way to save people that I care about,” Myanin yelled.

“You don’t know me anymore, Shade. I’m not the girl I was all those centuries ago, so you don’t get to tell me what or why I was doing it.

He said a sacrifice, and the ultimate sacrifice is to lay down your life for someone else. ”

His brow rose. “Is that what you thought you were doing?”

She was going to slap him. That’s all there was to it.

And possibly even kill him. There was no way Myanin was going to spend all of however the hell long she was going to be stuck in the Nushtonia with Shade and not go insane.

Which meant he had to die. It was simple.

Who would blame her? And did it matter at this point?

“Can you please re-fly your ass back out of this hellhole? This is my hellhole. I claimed it fair and square when I threw Jewel out, and I would like to spend the rest of hell in peace.” There.

She didn’t kill him, and she was diplomatic.

Someone get her some damn cotton candy. Oh, wait.

There is none in her new version of eternity. Ugh.

“Sorry, princess.” Shade sighed. “But you’re stuck with me. And I hate to shatter your newfound sense of self sacrifice. But you freed Raja and most likely got Jewel killed. So kudos to you.”

“I hate you.” It wasn’t the best comeback. But her mind was running over his words, and it was all she had.

“You’ve told me that many times. Get a new insult.”

“You’re a son of biscuit eater, and you deserve to choke on slugs for all of eternity while I’m fed cotton candy by my mate . Oh, and you’ll be watching me be fed cotton candy by my mate, while you choke on those slugs.”

Shade stared at her for a moment, then nodded. “That’s better. You’ve got potential.” He pushed up to his feet and rested his hands on his hips. “Oh, and look around, gorgeous. Your mate’s not here.”