Chapter Twenty-Four

God of Night

My shadows writhe with rage, but I subdue them in an iron fist.

They’ve become much too possessive, much too disobedient. They aided her escape from Nyriell. They’d taken vicious pleasure in ending the lives of the men who’d thought they could touch what wasn’t theirs. I’d paid the price, of course.

I’d been lost to my father’s fucking curse for a fortnight.

And now, a bargain has been made and though I long to obliterate every soul in that room, I cannot. A red haze descends even as I struggle for calm. With a snarl, I bury the bond.

She’s on her own . . . as am I.

The fates will only be manipulated for so long, Darrius.

I growl at the unwelcome intrusion and slam the barriers down in my mind.

Vena, that meddling crone, needs to mind her own fucking business.