She was beautiful. Her skin was flawless, her hair like gold, her eyes silver like starlight. She stood naked on the rock. He stared at her breasts, the rounded curves of her hips, the pale triangle of golden curls between her legs . . . So soft, so golden . . . He wanted to put his hands on her.

Her magic washed over him, and his body reshaped itself on its own, trying to match her humanity with his own. He went hard, and when she opened her mouth, her red lips like ripe fruit, and called him to her, his body wanted to obey.

Her voice was the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard. “Beloved . . . Come to me . . .”

Images flickered in his mind. He saw himself over her, felt himself in her, saw her skin blush as her body clenched around him. . . . Her magic was too strong. He was tired and hurt, and the forced change drained him. He couldn’t fight it. He had to go to her. That was the best way. The right way.

“Derek!” Julie grabbed his arm. “No!”

He shrugged her off. He had to get to the woman. Fighting the flood of magic was pointless. It would only exhaust him more, and he was already weak.

“Derek!”

He shoved her back. She fell and he marched to the pillar.

“He’s lost,” Adams mocked. “He’s young and single. He can’t resist a letavitsa. That right there is unmatched power. A single one can empty a city of every man in it.”

“Derek!”

He heard her trying to run after him and, out of the corner of his eye, saw Adams pull a knife out and step into her path.

“You’ll die next,” Julie snarled.

“I took measures. I have protection. He doesn’t. The fallen star will feed on him and drain him dry. Now it’s just you and me.”

“Come closer. . . . Tell me you love me. Give yourself to me.”

He let the magic pull him forward. It was too strong to fight. He had to give himself to her. He was almost to the Pillar Rock.

Adams raised his hand. Foul magic spread from him, like dark ink. “Evdokia will just love this.”

“What the hell do you want with a letavitsa anyway?”

“Funny thing about gangs,” Caleb said. “Ninety percent of members are male between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five. Rabid with hormones and unlikely to form lasting attachments. A man would have to be willing to die for a woman to fight off the letavitsa’s magic. That kind of devotion is rare. Tomorrow night I’ll walk with her through the Warren, and that will be the end of my turf war.”

Derek jumped onto the pillar and began walking toward her. She waited, golden, warm, ready, her hair floating around her, her silver eyes glowing. . . . He could see Julie and Adams below them among the puddles.