The pain hadn’t abated one bit, but the world spun on, and so did I.

Now, I was sitting at the head of the table where the Council had convened. Another emergency session, but this was one that I’d called.

No one knew, and perhaps they wouldn’t find out if I didn’t tell them.

Alex had begged me not to.

I knew that if I didn’t do it now, weakness would claim me and I wouldn’t be able to do it later.

Could her magic reach me from down there? I hadn’t put the iron collar on her, distracted as I’d been with the pain in my heart.

That would have to be corrected, but later.

“How could this happen?” It was my mother who spoke, and I felt her disappointment radiating from her. The look in her eyes spoke volumes, more than words could ever say.

Yet I didn’t hang my head in shame as I might have wanted to. I met her eyes with the empty void I felt inside.

“You let the thrall distract you,” Isaiah said.

“She’s a blood mage,” I said, breaking through the disjointed, panicked uproar that had taken over the Council when I informed them of Nina’s arrest. Decorum had been abandoned, and accusations were flying free through the room.

The consensus was clear—I’d failed in my duty to them.

I didn’t even try to deny it. I’d failed in the worst possible way.

The only thing I had left to cling to was that I hadn’t taken her to bed.

I didn’t sleep with the enemy.

A corner of my lips twitched, as if some part of me wanted to smile, but I schooled my expression to reflect the void within.

There would be no laughter in my life. Never again.

“What do you mean, she’s a blood mage?” my mother prodded me. She was the only one who dared to speak now.

“I’m sure we all recall when a blood mage escaped four years ago, when Father was alive.” I made sure to point that out so they couldn’t lay that blame at my feet as well. “The mage was never recovered, and it’s now very evident that she joined with the other hunters.”

Murmurs filled the room again. Horror and dismay. No one knew what to think, what to say, so they said everything that came to mind. No one thought to control their words now, and who could blame them?

We’d never had to deal with something like this.

It had been centuries since the blood mages had been a true problem. And now we had one to contend with again.

One who’d infiltrated the castle and distracted everyone, endearing herself to the nobility and making friends left and right. No one who’d talked to her had walked away without a smile on their face.

She’d done her job well. I could respect that.

It didn’t make me feel any better.

“Still, how did you allow this to happen?” Isaiah spoke up. “How did you allow her free roam of the castle?”

“Clearly, I didn’t know what she was,” I said, my voice icy. “I believe she’s been using her magic on me since the day of the Choosing. I don’t know what she came here for, but it’s clear enough that she had much to gain by having me Choose her.”

There was silence in the room at last, as everyone absorbed what that meant.

If she’d been using her magic on me—and that was the only acceptable explanation for everything that had happened—then she’d been using her magic on all of them.

They’d have to reexamine everything they’d done since she arrived at the castle, and I was sure they’d each find at least one thing they’d love to blame on her.

You’re ruining her.

Shame washed through me. No one would ever look at her the same again. No one would trust her.

That’s the way it’s supposed to be.

I told myself that, but it did nothing to ease my conscience.

It had to be her influence, but somehow, I still wanted her safe and at my side. I wanted everyone to love her as I did and accept her as a staple in my life.

But that never would have happened, even if she hadn’t been outed as a blood mage. No one wanted to see a thrall in polite company, no matter how common their presence in our lives was. They weren’t present at our balls, they didn’t greet guests, they didn’t partake in formal dinners.

They were silent shadows.

Or at least, the others had been. Nina had never been good at that part, and yet no one had objected before.

Everyone had wanted to talk to her. Everyone had been willing to overlook her status to have a moment in the sunshine of her smile.

Magic. It was her magic that made them react like that.

“Well, this is all well and good, but what are you going to do about her now? Where is she?”

I slid my gaze over to Isaiah, regarding him with cool eyes. I wanted to hate him, but at the moment I was numb.

“The pit,” I said.

My mother flinched. She’d been particularly fond of Nina, and I knew she must be feeling a similar number of conflicting emotions at the moment.

Neither of us wanted Nina in the pit, but it was the only safe place to keep her until we figured this out.

It’s not where she belongs.

Shut up.

Under the table, my hand clenched into a fist. I’d have my control, damn it.

The woman had shaken me from every semblance of control I’d had, and now I didn’t know what to do with myself.

I was a broken man without her.

“She needs to be executed,” Isaiah said.

My lip curled, and I barely controlled the instinct to rip his throat out. He dared to suggest laying a hand on the woman who belonged to me?

How dare he?

She was mine.

I held back a gasp as I realized what I’d just thought.

Nina wasn’t mine, not anymore.

I should want her to die as much as any of these people did.

“There is another option,” my mother said, and all eyes moved to her. “We could use her. She could be a very valuable weapon.”

I didn’t like that anymore than I liked the idea of killing her.

Nina couldn’t be trusted, not to kill for us. She’d already proven herself capable of treachery, and she could easily slip in and out of our minds.

Another Council member—Susan—gave voice to my thoughts. “She’d turn on us the moment we let her out of the pit.”

“Not if she was properly enthralled,” my mother said, arching an eyebrow at me. “I don’t suggest that you keep her; obviously, that’s out of the question. But if she was enthralled, you’d always know where she was. What she was feeling. You’d be able to detect it if she was about to turn.”

I inhaled harshly.

She wanted me to enthrall Nina?

The idea of sharing that intimate moment with her left me aching and repulsed me at the same time.

She’d already betrayed me once. I didn’t think I could survive it if she did it again.

The Council broke into argument as they tried to sort out what to do, but I tuned them out so I might be alone with my thoughts.

There was no good option here. There was no way out of this that would leave me whole again.

Nina had taken my heart the moment she’d revealed herself, and I knew I’d never fill the void she’d left behind. There was nothing left in me now.

I couldn’t muster the strength to care about this discussion. Didn’t care what these fools thought should happen.

I wanted to be left alone with my rage and pain so I could nurse my wounds.

Alex was right: I should have taken some time for myself before I informed the Council what had happened. At least long enough to put myself somewhat back together.

I knew I’d never be complete again, but surely I’d reach a point where I could care about my people once gain.

“What do you think?” Rachel asked, drawing my attention and shushing the rest of the Council.

They were all staring at me, waiting for me to give them an answer.

I realized that mine would be the deciding vote, as it should be. I’d have final say in this, as in all things.

Nina’s fate lay in my hands.

Would she die?

No, I couldn’t bear it.

What did I think?

I groaned internally. I knew what I wanted. I wanted Nina back, the Nina from yesterday, the sweet thrall whose gentle strength I’d admired from a distance. I wanted to go back to the days when we’d communicated with stolen glances and veiled comments. When we’d sat side by side on the chaise longue, inches away from touching one another, enjoying each other’s company.

I wanted those days back.

I wanted everything to be the way it had been.

But that wasn’t an option. Nothing could turn back the hands of time. That magic was beyond all of us.

“Let her be a weapon,” I said, and my voice sounded empty even to my own ears.

If we used her, at least she’d be alive. At least I’d have time to sort out these feelings that were driving me mad.

The members of the Council nodded in agreement.

It was done. Her fate was decided.

I pushed back my chair, about to stand.

“Wait.” It was Charles, the oldest man on the Council, who spoke, lifting a single finger. “There is one more order of business for us to address today.”

I arched an eyebrow, looking around at the rest of the Council. No one would meet my eyes.

What else could we need to address?

He cleared his throat. “None of this would have happened if you had been mated. You wouldn’t have taken the thrall, and you wouldn’t have allowed yourself to be distracted by her. It’s more than evident now that you must take a mate, my King.”

My eyes darted from one Council member to the next, and finally rested on my mother.

She was the only one to meet my gaze, staring back at me with steely determination.

Of course she’d agree with this. She’d been campaigning for me to take a mate longer than I could remember.

“You can’t be serious. Now? You want to talk about this now?” I snarled, abandoning the small amount of decorum I’d been holding on to.

“It’s never been more important than it is now,” Charles said. “You must do this.”

“I have more important things to deal with.”

“If you don’t do this,” Isaiah said, “you’ll leave us no choice.”

It took me a minute before I absorbed the reality of what he’d just said. They would take the throne from me if I didn’t agree to take a mate.

My nostrils flared, and I glared down at the floor, debating.

The idea of mating with someone else... My stomach roiled, and I fought back the bile in my throat.

How could I possibly touch another woman?

That’s just the remnants of the magic she worked on you. Your mate is out there.

They’d take my power from me if I didn’t submit; I knew that. But how could I do what they were asking of me?

Everything inside me rebelled.

“Fine,” I said, my voice little more than a growl. I stood, knocking over the chair I’d been sitting in. “Get out.”

They fled the room, clearly happy to take their victory and not push it any further.

The moment they were gone, I let out a roar of pain and anguish, seized the table and threw it against the wall.

Damn you, Nina.