I should stand guard at the tunnel. You all enjoy it, though.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay?” Dagny asks, the hesitancy in her voice mirrored in the anxious energy rolling from her shoulders. She gestures to the unoccupied space in the circle, worrying her bottom lip as the air thickens with anticipation. “Just for a little while?”

I stare hard at that spot, my abdomen rippling as I call upon every last drop of restraint left in my body. I want so badly to go to her, to hold her and smell her and touch her the way I’ve been craving, but it’s too dangerous. Dagny scans my expression, her face falling as she realizes what my answer will be—and though I’d rather gouge out my eyes than disappoint her, it’s what I have to do.

I’m sorry, I say. I can’t.

But as the words leave my mind, and I turn and stalk from the room, I know it’s a lie. Somewhere, deep down, I know tonight is the last night I’ll be able to stay away from her. It’s impossible to deny any longer, hopeless to ignore that last thread of control snapping, sending me hurtling into the abyss. As I fall, a single phrase whispers through the wind whipping around my head, commanding me to surrender to the dark desires of my beast—and I know tonight is the night that I break.

26. Dagny

26

Dagny

I wake to a low hissing sound and a slight pressure on my chest—just enough to pull me from my delicious dream. I blink away the thick haze of sleep, finding it does no good due to the lack of light in the bedroom. A wriggling sensation draws my gaze downward, and shock clenches my chest as I come face-to-face with a pair of slitted serpentine eyes. My stomach clenches as a long, inky tongue flicks out, nearly brushing the tip of my nose as the snake samples the air.

“Syn?” I whisper, trying to think past the powerful whooshing in my ears and the pressure building beneath my skin. “What are you…? You’re not supposed to be here.”

A low hissing sound breaks the silence as the snake rears up, staring deep into my soul with its swirling golden orbs. Syn’s jaw extends, showcasing the two needlelike fangs situated at the front of her mouth, curved inward and dripping with a clear, viscous liquid.

I lie utterly still at the edge of the furs, too scared to breathe, to blink in case it triggers the creature to attack. And though fear is at the forefront of my mind, a calming warmth also spreads through my veins. Telling me it’s all going to be okay.