“And I want it to stay that way. Now walk away!”

Before I could say another word, there was a blur of motion and I caught sight of a dagger as it was plunged straight into my stomach. I was thrust backward, staggering, and fell to the ground. Pain radiated from my belly, and my chest became tight. I pressed my hand against the wound and felt wetness. I put both hands against the ground and tried to push myself up, but before I could sit up properly, he grabbed the collar of my hoodie and slapped me repeatedly. When he was satisfied, he grabbed me by my hair and dragged me away.

“I’ll make my family proud, you know. I’ve finally caught the last Stavros. All I have to do now is bring you to the Faction, then they’ll crown me as their leader.”

My face stung; I could feel his handprints all over my face. My stomach bled as I tried to struggle against his grip. Through blurry vision, my eyes met a pair of green ones. It was only a split second before the figure vanished. My eyes fluttered closed, the darkness enveloping me, and I had no power left to fight.

The pain burned like fire, then slowly faded to an icy numbness. My breath came in ragged shallow gasps. I heard footsteps, then voices. I felt people swarming around me, trying to save me.

My consciousness was floating through an empty space filled with infinite darkness and my heartbeat echoed in my ears. I wanted to be saved. Three familiar faces came into my vision. The three strange ladies from the Hyped—but they were dressed differently. Instead of the usual dull-brown uniform like the rest of the Court workers, they were now cloaked in white robes. Their skin was blistered and their eyes were bloodshot. Each of them had one hand on me, the other reaching out to the oak.

My vision went black again. I lost time; I felt nothing but numbness.

Then I saw Adrian. His dark-blond hair was messier than usual. His emerald eyes were in pain. I longed to be in his arms, to feel his soft kiss on my lips. I longed for my body to feel the fire that I had felt when he had kissed me, his exploring hands ravishing wherever he could touch.

Then his face was gone and darkness returned.

Now Vlad’s worried face appeared before me, a deep frown settled between his brows. He, too, looked like he was suffering. And all I wanted was to comfort him—to make his pain go away.

I did not want to die. Even if it meant that I would spend the rest of my life continuously being hunted down for being the ancestor of Hades.