Flying. I’m flying. Ling squealed in delight and flapped her wings, then swooped to glide on an air current. This was incredible. Amazing.

Except Cao wasn’t with her.

The encounter with his brother had taken something from him and he needed a few moments alone. Still, she longed to share this with him.

Taelen paddled one wing in her direction, splashing her with a powerful whoosh of air.

She tumbled into a summersault and burst out laughing, struggling to right herself.

Nothing but endless miles of sky beneath her, so she had no fear of crashing.

Taelen had said that was best. Make the leap and her dragon would eventually flap its wings. It had.

After a couple miles of falling.

She evened out, skating on the currents once more. This was the best. When she returned to normal society, she’d challenge Liem and Lok to a race. And win.

Ry glided to her side and matched pace. “You did great for your first day. Let’s head back. It’s getting dark.”

Ling inclined her head. Ry was right. The sun was setting. Wow, this day had gone by fast.

The three of them swooped onto a ledge of the main island and landed. Concentrating on Taelen’s lesson, she focused her energy back into the form of a human.

“Meet you at dinner.” Ry tapped her shoulder and headed off with Taelen. Ling sent them a small wave and made for her cave. Hopefully, Cao would be feeling better.

She wended into the cavern and caught sight of Cao by the hearth, facing the flames. Naked, except for a pair of dark leather pants.

Yum.

The demon mirror hung above the empty fireplace. Weird. Why had he brought it back? That thing was just creepy. “Hey,” she murmured, approaching him.

He whipped around, his eyes narrowed on her, but didn’t reciprocate her greeting.

He must be upset.

She strolled to him and placed her hand on his arm. “I’m so sorry about your brother. Things will work out, though, I promise.”

“Yeah,” he latched on to her hand, gripping her wrist too tight, “I think you’re right.” Cao yanked her against his body. “You gonna help me forget my troubles?” he rasped, his tone low and savage.

Go easy on him. He’s hurting.

He jerked her mouth to his and kissed her, his lips rough and harsh.

Okay, that’s enough. She shoved her hand at his chest to pull back, breaking their kiss. “Of course, I will, Cao. I love you.”

“Well, isn’t that convenient.” He scoffed, curling his lip. “Too bad my brother isn’t here for this.”

“He’ll come around.” She drew her brows together, studying him. Worry churned in her gut. She’d never seen him this dark. “We won’t give up on him. Come to dinner and we can talk about this.”

“Talk?” He arched one brow. “You fucking little whore. The only thing I’m going to do with your mouth is stuff my dick down your throat.”

Ling reared, seizing a step back. What the hell was wrong with Cao? This was not the kind of role play she was interested in.

He advanced on her, snatched her by the throat, and slammed her onto the bed. She wheezed while he rubbed his hardness against her, his free hand clawing at her jeans.

No no no. This was wrong. This wasn’t like Cao.

Why was he acting like this? Had the demon mirror changed him somehow? She hadn’t detected anything then. There had to be an explanation.

She struggled against his iron grasp, clawing at the silk sheets. This wasn’t him dominating her. This was something else.

Something far, far worse.

Her dragon screeched within her, and claws formed over her fingers. Bucking hard, Ling threw him off, slashing her claws across his face, cutting straight to the bone.

Cao howled, his hand shooting to press against his face, blood dripping between his fingers. “You bitch!” he thundered, his eyes black, bottomless pits.

Her mind reeled and her hands shook with tremors. She’d torn up his face, but he raged at her, pacing back and forth, snarling.

None of this made any sense, but one thing was perfectly clear.

That wasn’t Cao.

* * *

Ughn,” Cao muttered, flipping open his eyes. His vision was blurry and he detected only shadows. But the smell. Dear gods. The stench. Rotten flesh. Sulphur. Hot, acrid air stung his lungs as he inhaled.

Where the fuck am I?

He rolled his head from side to side, detecting the hard stone beneath his naked body. I’m lying down. His wrists were bound, encircled in metal handcuffs, fastened by long chains that clinked as he wiggled his arms.

His legs, too, were chained.

Dammit.

Sinister chortling rang in his ears, growing closer. “Well, look who’s awake.” The creature hissed in demon tongue, but Cao understood.

Had yāoguài captured him? How? Oh, gods, where was Ling?

A demon hobbled to his side and bent over him, displaying a broad snout full of razor-sharp teeth. Its beady yellow orbs and leathered skin made him the ugliest crocodile-demon hybrid Cao had ever seen.

“Welcome to Hell, Immortal,” it hissed, wielding a pair of pliers.

Dread filled Cao and he gaped at the tool. No, this couldn’t be. Immortals didn’t go to Dìyù, because they never died. Which also made them very unpopular with the occupants of Hell. “You’ve got the wrong man. I’m—”

Snickering, the demon collected an object from the side table. “Oh, we know who you are.”

He held up a shard of glass to Cao’s face.

Only, it wasn’t his face.

Cao blinked, and the man in the mirror blinked, too.

This wasn’t fucking possible, was it?

His reflection showed his brother. Jingzhi.

“No.” He tossed his head, panicking as the reflection copied his exact movements. “This isn’t my body. I’m not him.”

“Sure, you’re not, but no one here gives a damn.” The demon sniggered, flung aside the mirror, and clacked the pliers together.

“Wait.” Cao struggled against the chains. “Whatever he promised you, I’ll do better. Anything you want.”

Other demons closed in around them, circling his head, poking at his body, which was actually his brother’s.

“Pathetic Immortal.” The demon clucked his tongue. “He already gave us what we asked for. You.”

The demons by his head grabbed his neck, immobilizing him, and forced open his jaw.

Cao jerked and wrenched, but he couldn’t break free.

Bloody hell, this was going to hurt.

“In the first chamber, those who stir up troubles by gossiping will have their tongues ripped out.” The crocodile demon secured his tongue with the pliers…

And yanked it out.

* * *

Falling back on her instincts, Ling transformed into the dragon. Whatever this creature was, she’d better present herself as a badass opponent.

Not a weak victim.

The Cao imposter paused, taking her in from tail to head. “Well, look at you. Think you’re strong enough to stop me? Huh? Want to rip apart this body?” He ran a hand down his chest and snatched his junk obscenely. “Oh, but you’d be destroying the man you love.” He bared his teeth, sneering.

Gods, so that was Cao’s real body and not a golem.

“I should do it for you.” He nabbed a dagger from the table and slowly dragged the tip across the surface of his arm.

“No, stop!” Ling lunged forward, snaring his arm in her claws and ripping aside the knife. “Don’t you dare hurt him.”

“A touch too late for that.” The beast wheezed in her tight grasp, the shine of his cheekbone prominent through the three slash marks she’d dealt him.

Damn. This sucked. The injury on his face hadn’t healed—and it wouldn’t. She couldn’t harm him without wounding Cao’s body. Only his soul inside his body made his physical form immortal… “What did you do to him?”

“I switched places with him. He was more than willing to give me whatever I asked for. The fucking moron.”

“What…?” Switch places. Willing. Ling narrowed her eyes. “Who are you?”

“If I’d have known his girlfriend was a fucking dragon, I would’ve taken over your body instead. A shame, really.” The man’s calculating and possessive leer made her shudder.

An infinitely evil aura hung about him.

The one person Cao would have willingly given anything to was…

“Jingzhi,” she whispered, hating the awful truth.

“Bingo.” The male smirked, his features so cruel and twisted. Nothing of the man she knew existed in those sinister depths.

“If you’re in Cao’s body, then Cao is…” Oh, gods. The air burned in her lungs. The mirror. He must have gone back to the mirror chamber and fallen straight into Jingzhi’s schemes.

“Spirits can’t change places with the living.” She frowned, trying to make sense of this.

“Who said anything about me being a spirit.” Jingzhi snickered.

“You turned demon.” She jolted, holding him far away from herself. Just touching him made creepy crawlies slither across her scales.

A human spirit turned demon. That rarely happened, but it was possible. If a soul was twisted and corrupt enough, they’d be willing to commit any atrocities to gain such power. Her friends had encountered some. Xiaodan, who was Lucy’s uncle. Xing, Nat’s father. Dì Xīn, Daji’s ex-husband. They were three of the four Demon Kings who’d risen to power in Dìyù. Who’d unleashed the Red Death in hopes of destroying humanity.

Where did Jingzhi fit in?

Keep him talking. Buy time to figure this out. Save Cao.

Despite her better judgment, Ling set Jingzhi on the ground, blocking the entry of the cave with her dragon body. “How did you do it?”

“With this.” Jingzhi withdrew the shén stone from his spirit, the two halves fused together.

Why, Cao? She stamped down the pang of hurt and hopelessness.

“I’ve waited patiently for Cao to bring me the other half. Always knew he would eventually.”

Crap, this was bad. That kind of power in the wrong hands? End-of-the-world disastrous. “Let’s say I believe you, that you’re a demon hybrid who’s switched places with Cao. What do you hope to gain?”

Jingzhi scowled. “A fucking body, of course. I’ve spent centuries being tortured while my self-righteous prick of a brother has enjoyed the liberties of immortality. It’s time for a little payback.” He cracked his knuckles and smirked.

Poor Cao. Before despair for his situation overwhelmed her, she scrambled for ideas on how to best Jingzhi.

Aha.

“Nice plan, but you forgot one little thing.” She angled her head and bared her fangs at him. “The moment you step foot off this enchanted island, a legion of Qinglong dragons is going to slaughter you.”

* * *

Not again. Cao thrashed his head, but he was powerless in Dìyù, helpless against demons who tortured him over and over again.

The chortling demon hovering above him didn’t show mercy as he wrenched out Cao’s tongue with the pliers.

His throat was so hoarse, he couldn’t even scream anymore. He’d lost count of how many times they’d ripped out his tongue and, after it had grown back, they’d repeat the agonizing torment.

This was only the first of eighteen torture chambers.

He heaved, spitting out a mouthful of blood, and grimaced while his tongue regenerated. Sadly, it wouldn’t take long. Then they’d be back. To do it over again.

It didn’t matter to the demons that Cao didn’t belong here. Perhaps even worse than this suffering was the agony of how his brother had betrayed him. Jingzhi was beyond redemption. Every hope Cao had carried was trashed.

What was Jingzhi even doing with his body? Gods, if he laid a single hand on Ling…

He fisted his hands, wrenching against the chains, despite the futility of fighting back.

It was hopeless.

He couldn’t save his brother.

He couldn’t save himself.

And he sure as shit couldn’t save Ling.

There wasn’t even the hope of cleansing his soul like the others suffering here. They’d earned their punishment and, once they paid their penance, they’d be free to proceed onto whatever awaited them next. Another torture chamber, heaven, or reincarnation.

But not me. The demons couldn’t be bribed or reasoned with.

No advocate for him, no future.

He glowered at the demon approaching with the pliers. Here we go again.

Desolation threatened to seize him, to force him to surrender all that he was.

Dammit, no.

Gritting his teeth, Cao fought against submission.

One last time.