Dad reaches out, and I flinch. He hesitates but decides to place his hand on my shoulder anyway.

“Mistrusting one part of the Order doesn’t mean you should mistrust all of it.”

“Then let the Order prove me wrong.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

Anora and the Order

I wake up stuffed inside covers. Blankets are tucked under my shoulders, arms, and legs. The feel of them against my skin is like being restrained. I shove them aside, thrashing to release my limbs. Once I’m free, I lie there breathing hard. My mind picks up where it left off before everything went dark—Lily coming to life and feral, Jake lifeless, looking like something out of a horror movie, Jacobi landing on his head, unmoving, and Shy, Natalie, the hellhounds, all arriving too late.

Because even after they were all assembled, they couldn’t kill Lily.

So I did.

But at what price?

Lily’s soul shattered.

That’s what happens when you use powers you don’t understand. Thane’s words echo in my mind. Why does he have to be right all the time?

I start to clench my fist, but pain prevents me. When I look at my hand, I find something metal molded around my palm. Prongs dig into the top of my hand, like a diamond set in a mount, except there’s nothing pretty about this contraption.

Hysterical, I sit up, trying to pry the thing from my hand, but I only make it worse. The prongs dig into my skin and bleed. A wave of dizziness washes over me, and I stop, focusing instead on my cage.

I can see nothing, save a large glass door that opens into a hallway flooded with sterile light. I start to rise from the bed and go to it when a voice erupts from the darkness.

“Comfortable?”

I spin to face the sound.

“Who the hell are you?” I demand.

A laugh and then lights. Dim, ugly lights that illuminate the cell and a creature—a Valryn with a pretty face, dark eyes, and a devastating, infuriating smile. His body is long and lean, and his muscles are contoured by his skin-tight suit. Weapons are arranged strategically on his body: a knife at his thigh, blades crisscrossed on his back. He’s haloed by large, iridescent-black wings.

“Forgive me, Eurydice. I did not introduce myself.” He places his hand to his chest. “I am Luminary Roth DuPont, the head of the Order.”

I just stare at him. That name means nothing.

“I’m disappointed,” he says. “Savior hasn’t told you about me?”

“Guess he didn’t think you were worth mentioning.”

Roth offers a charming smile, and I hate it. “Shy didn’t think you were worth mentioning either. But I think you and I understand things of value. Things like this.” He holds up my necklace, and I go rigid.