“You do realize that the second you reach your magical peak, I will ensure that you die, and devour all of that strength and power you currently seek to gain.”

“All the more reason for you to teach me,” I say, shrugging. “The more powerful I am, the more powerful you will be when you consume me.”

He smiles. “I am impressed. You are your mother’s—all of your mothers’—daughter. But I need to hear your requirement of me. What do you wish for in exchange, Briana Irene?”

I take a slow, deep breath. This is what I had planned for, and yet asking for it means that it might not come true. I am gambling on an educated guess.

“With your long life,” I begin, “and your long time infiltrating the Order, you must know where Natasia Kane is.”

Erebus goes still, studies me. Finally, he says, “I do.”

I swallow around the knot in my throat. “You travel through shadows. Go directly to Sel’s room at the guesthouse. If you take him to her, I will go with you.”

Erebus shakes his head slowly. “The boy is far gone. There’s no guarantee Natasia can save him.”

“I know.” I clench my fist. “But it’s his only chance.”

Erebus’s lip curls. “The minute he is well, you could escape me. Return to your friends.”

“I am asking you this for me!” I say. “And I will not escape you to return here.” My laugh is sour, sad, both. “Because nothing I do will ever be enough for them. The Regents made sure of that when they put me on display in Arthur’s possession, dangerously out of control and powerless at once. I used to think I shouldn’t be here, but now I know I can’t. And maybe I don’t have to be. This world wants my suffering, and I cannot keep giving it to them.”

Erebus considers this for a long moment, then nods. “I accept your terms.”

I stand. “Bring Sel to me first. Please.”

“As you wish.” He inclines his head, then melts into shadow and disappears.

He reappears a moment later with Sel struggling in his grip. Abruptly, Sel’s nose lifts to the sky, following a scent, searching….

When he finds me, I am caught frozen by eyes turned molten red. Then his gaze loses focus, burrows past my features, slices through my hope… and a slow, dangerous predator’s grin overtakes his mouth, displaying long black-tipped fangs.

“Your anguish…,” Sel purrs, voice low and hungry, “is wrapped around your very heart.”

Before I can react, he darts forward, claws outstretched, reaching for me and my pain—just as he did in Valec’s office. Erebus snatches him back in an iron grip, holds him still.

“Selwyn senses your misery,” Erebus mutters impatiently. “That is all you are to him now.”