I whirled around to find a lone white feather on the dusty floor, his presence a gentle lingering energy in the stifling air.
What game are you playing?I wondered, sighing.
Camillia released a soft little moan, distracting me from the Hell Fae Prince. It wasn’t a moan of pleasure but one of anguish.
Sighing, I flicked my fingers toward her and swathed her in a cooling blanket of ethereal energy.
That technically qualified as a gift despite the fact that she couldn’t see it. But she could feel it. Which meant I only had two more to give.
Fuck it. I didn’t want a bride. So what did it matter if I gave the gifts to Camillia? At least then she would stand some sort of chance tomorrow. And if she died, well, I’d at least tried.
That would relieve me of any and all guilt.
Water and food, I decided.That’s all I’m giving her.
I turned away from her cell to go find something suitable.
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
CAMI
Reality meltedinto a vision I didn’t understand.
Part of me recognized that I’d fallen asleep. Yet I felt very much awake.
Hot.
Burning.
Fire.
But there were no flames, just an abundance of light.
I’m dreaming, I told myself.I’m… I’m definitely dreaming.
Except, this felt so real. There were fae shouting at each other. Feathers falling from the sky. A flaring star beckoning me to step closer. Seducing my soul. Telling me to move… move…move…
I blinked, not understanding. However, my legs shifted, my feet whispering across the ground as I crept closer to that alluring brightness.Touch me. Take me. Keep me.
The words were a chant in my head, but my voice wasn’t the one urging me to act. It was deep. Foreign. Unlike anything I’d ever heard.
And then it shouted at an approaching mass of darkness.
Lucifer.
Black wings spanned along his back, stretching out to the sky and darkening my view. He was furious. Yelling. Threatening the voice with a sharp blade of magic.
I stumbled backward, uncertain of what was happening, terrified of what this all meant.
Take it!the voice roared.Take what’s ours!
My head swayed back and forth, my feet continuing to carry me away. And then I was running into the stark coolness of the night, away from the brightness and the sun and into the land of the unknown.
Ice drizzled down my spine, chilling me to the bone, but I couldn’t stop sprinting. I had to escape. I had to run. I had tohide.
I dove inside a frozen sphere of darkness, curled into a ball, and willed myself to wake up.
“Cami?”