A wild glint enters her gaze as she tears through muscle and tendon, and while pain flares along the length of my forearm, I’m too mesmerized to pull away. A moment later, she does it for me, reeling back with a chin covered in blue-black blood and a piece of my flesh clenched between her teeth.

She turns her head to the side, spitting the chunk onto the stone ground before an eerie smile overtakes her expression. When she faces me again, I’m shocked to find her canines lengthened, tapering to razor-sharp points—just like a typical demon of The Far Place.

How spectacular.

I pull my hand to my chest, a matching smile tugging at my own mouth as I take in the bloodthirsty look in my beloved’s eyes. Instead of healing the wound, I allow it to ooze, reveling in the sensation of my own blood dripping down my arm, drowning in the ecstasy each throb of pain offers me—all because it reminds me of the creature who put it there.

Thank you, I whisper into her mind. I’ll treasure it for as long as I’m able.

At this, Dagny releases a vicious snarl, the silver ring around her pupil expanding as her power rises once more. But before it gets a chance to explode in a stunning display like earlier, a voice breaks out over my shoulder, causing Dagny to lose focus.

“It’s good to know I’m not the only one going mad.” The words are muffled, distorted, and barely comprehensible, but the laughter that follows is unmistakable. Fenryr.

I narrow my eyes as I turn my head, sending the green-eyed demon the full weight of my glare. “Something funny, dog?”

He shakes his head, but his chuckle still echoes off the metal muzzle strapped to his face. At the sound, an irritated growl rumbles in my chest, and I make a mental note to adjust it so he’s unable to speak for the foreseeable future.

Speaking of the future…

I look between Fenryr and Dagny, the strength of the bond trying to draw them together palpable in the air. If his familiar was so inclined, it already would have happened. However, I had Nya lead him to the human realm—something he hasn’t done since Fenryr was locked up—and he’ll be preoccupied with getting his fill of mortal souls. But not forever.

It’s not like separating them would help—and even if I wanted that, there are no other cells with strong enough wards to hold Dagny and Fenryr. Slaine refuses to offer Dagny a normal room—for good reason—until he assesses her threat level, and with the way she’s reacting to my presence, I have to assume it’s just as bad around Slaine’s soldiers.

No, this is the only way. I just have to hope his familiar, Echo, stays away long enough.