“Shut up,” seethes Sel. His eyes find me. “Please, Bree, let me explain….”

Valec talks over him, Sel snaps back; their words turn into a melted slurry of sound overhead. My hands tremble at my sides. My heart hits the same hurt over and over again, a steady drum of betrayal.

“That imbalance is what makes a Merlin so volatile,” Valec continues. “Order favors balance, so when cambion blood is evenly split in a half-demon, half-human”—he gestures at himself—“it’s much easier to control. Although, our Selwyn here is making a valiant effort not to succumb to his blood, I’ll give him that. Touchless mesmer is very impressive work, Kane.”

So dizzy I might vomit. So dizzy I want to vomit, get all this wrong out of me, all of it. I shut my eyes—and I’m back in the cave again.

Arthur, pulling my strings like a puppet.

Arthur, invading my mind at the funeral.

Arthur, making me wonder if I can even trust myself.

And now… Sel. Doing the exact same things.

Everything in my chest spills out in a low, trembling whisper. “You knew what the Regents did to me at the Institute. What he did to me.” Guilt and horror splash across Sel’s face, chased by recognition.

Valec raises a brow. “The Regents are in town? Who is ‘he’?”

I ignore him. “You knew they drugged me. Manipulated my mind, my memories… so that I could be their toy to use or toss aside. You know what he feels like in my head, how I can’t trust myself sometimes, don’t know if it’s him or me…”

“Who the hell is ‘he’?” Valec throws his hands up.

“Bree, please—” Sel holds out a hand.

I jerk back, shouting, “Don’t touch me!”

His eyes darken to ruby, but he does not move.

“Is that what I am to you, too—a toy?”

Sel’s fists clench and unclench. “No.”

“I thought…” A sob wrenches its way from my throat. My heart feels as if it could collapse in on itself, taking breath and joy with it. I feel violated all over again. “You’re just like them…”

The Regents. Arthur.

“No, I am not like them,” Sel snarls, voice shifting into something wild, cracking.

Something hungry.

“I’m nothing like them. If you’d just listen to me—” He pushes off the wall, crimson flooding his eyes, blocking the white out. His veined fingertips reach the back of my hand—and Valec blurs between us. He shoves Sel away from me so hard, he hits the wall again. This time, Sel stays down, panting, shock across his face. “I…” Sel shakes his head, eyes unseeing. “I… I didn’t…”

“Get it together, Kane,” Valec snaps. “You’re far too proud to thank me for that now, but I expect your gratitude later.”

My jaw opens, closes. “What just happened—”