Zairn’s grating voice echoes off the walls, stopping me in my tracks. I turn my head slowly, finding his milky-white gaze narrowed in hate, a bloodthirsty snarl pulling at his lipless mouth. “I know what you all are up to,” he sneers, pointing an accusatory finger through the bars. “I know the red-eyed freak is behind all of this! That the explosion was just a diversion, a way to get me away so you can escape.” He shakes his head, his hand curling into a fist at his side. “Well, I won’t allow it! I know your secret—that if I kill you, all the others will die.” His snarl turns to a cunning sneer as he continues trying to get a rise out of me. “And then when you’re all dead and gone, your sweet little halfling pet will be at my mercy. Oh, but I won’t kill her right away. No, no—I know thousands of other uses for her.”

My beast rears its head, furious at the insinuation. I grit my teeth as my canines elongate, piercing my lower lip and adding to my list of injuries. Every molecule in my body wants to react, to lunge across the room and tear Zairn’s head from his shoulders for thinking about my mate in such a way. But I can’t. Not yet.

Fixing my face into one absent of emotion, I slide my hands out of sight, snapping off the tip of the tooth just like Malice showed me. Refusing to give Zairn the satisfaction of knowing his words affect me.

Frustrated with my lack of reaction, Zairn throws open the cell door with a vicious growl, so focused on my expression that he doesn’t notice me coating my claws in the venom. He storms across the floor, his eyes shooting fire, claws extended and reaching for my throat.

Just before he reaches me, Zairn steps into the pool of blood I left behind, placing the entirety of his weight on the foot resting in the liquid and sending him off balance for a moment—but it’s all I need.

I lunge for Zairn, my claws extended as far as possible, and a silent war cry builds in my chest. He jumps back at the last second, his eyes widening in shock as the tip of my index finger clips his arm. My body slams to the floor, agony spreading through my veins and stealing my breath, but I barely sense it. I did it. I won.

Zairn dusts himself off, his gaze filled with disdain and a touch of amusement. "Imbecilic Gylden slug. Do you really think a little scratch is going to hurt me? It will take…”