Harper wiped the map away, leaving no trace of our presence there. Then we split up into pairs again and snuck out of the red tower. We darted across the main square, keeping away from the soldiers, then rushed up the palace stairs and into the enormous obsidian structure.

From the outside, the palace looked huge, stretching for at least a mile on each side. But from the inside, it looked even bigger, with shiny, perfectly polished floors and walls over twenty feet in height. Decorative molding brushed with gold dust framed the ceiling and the bottom part of the walls.

Ghastly sculptures of what I assumed were legendary daemons and various underground creatures, including pit wolves and death claws, lined every corridor with imposing dimensions. They’d been carved out of the same fine obsidian crystal, and the amber lights of torches and overhead chandeliers cast their reflections against their multifaceted surfaces.

As we made our way into the east wing, I caught glimpses of adjacent banquet halls. Their walls were embedded with precious gemstones and gold inlays laid out in intricate works of art. Heavy furnishings made of black wood filled every room. Rich, beige leather drapes covered the tall, floor-to-ceiling windows. In some of the chambers, they’d replaced leather with red velvet. The ceilings were all painted with ample scenes of what looked like daemon lore, in vivid colors with dramatic contrasts.

Sturdy columns with beautifully sculpted crowns held up the high ceiling, like ancient giants looking down on us from both sides, as we moved to the spacious hallway. Harper was right—there were plenty of hiding spots for us, as well as dozens of daemon soldiers patrolling this part of the palace.

Hansa and I had to get out of sight a couple of times when guards carrying red lenses passed by. We took our time advancing through the east wing, as I analyzed the daemons’ weapons and movements. Each of them carried two broad rapiers, along with round shields on their backs and additional knives mounted on leather belts strapped to their thighs. Not all of the soldiers carried red lenses, but on average, one out of three patrolling this part of the palace had one.

“Stay here,” Hansa whispered, and I felt her leave my side.

We’d hidden behind a giant death claw statue, its lowered wings shielding us from a passing trio of daemon soldiers. I saw the air ripple where she moved, as she snuck behind the grunts and proceeded to lift the red lens off the one in the middle.

I held my breath, watching quietly as the round red garnet disk hovered in the air for a brief second, before it disappeared. One of the daemons made a sudden movement and bumped into her with his elbow. I froze as the daemon frowned and realized that someone was there.

Cursing under my breath, I ran out from our hiding spot and drove my sword through that daemon, while the other two jumped back, trying to figure out what was going on. The soldier in the middle patted his chest, looking for the red lens.

“Looking for something?” Hansa’s low voice made them growl, and they moved to attack.

They followed the air ripples, taking their swords out in the process. I pulled mine from the collapsed daemon and proceeded to attack the soldier on the left, while Hansa handled the former owner of the red lens. While we had caught the first one by surprise, the other two were better prepared and much faster than the ones we’d encountered before.

I had a little bit of trouble killing my opponent, but after dodging three of his hits, I managed to thrust my blade through his head from below, careful to move away and not get any blood on me. Hansa grunted, and I watched the third daemon drop to his knees. A wide gash blossomed at the center of his chest as he gave out his last breath and fell flat on his face.

We immediately dragged their bodies away, stuffing them behind the death claw statue against the wall. The blood on the floor was hard to notice at a glance—I took comfort in that as I found Hansa’s hand and pulled her away and farther down the hallway.

“It won’t take long before someone sees the blood and finds the bodies,” I muttered.

“I swear, I tried to be as discreet as possible,” Hansa replied, “but the guy moved out of nowhere. Thanks for the help, though. At least we have a red lens now.”

“That’s good, now we just need to get as far away from that hotspot as possible.”

According to our current position, the meranium box was somewhere ahead, about 200 yards away. We kept to the side, sneaking behind statues and decorative curtains, doing our best to stay away from the central part of the hallway, as more daemons patrolled these parts.

The tension that had been brewing between Hansa and me for the past three months had dissipated from the moment we’d kissed in that dirty old basement. As soon as I accepted my fate, and understood that my life was worthless without her, I could see everything clearly again.

Even as we walked through enemy territory, my resolve was stronger than ever. After all my misfortunes in terms of soulmates, I’d actually found hope that it wouldn’t end in tragedy this time around. The synergy between us was undeniable. Hansa was a terrific fighter, and she made me better, too, just by being there with me.

We’d been made for each other, and I couldn’t deny that any longer. Of course, I’d already promised myself to address this… whatever this was between us, once we got out of this city. I didn’t know where it was going, but I didn’t want to lose the newfound harmony between us—it helped us work better together, as if we read each other’s minds and knew exactly what we were going to do.

There would come a point when I’d have to sit down and talk to her. There was so much about me that she didn’t know, that she had to understand so that she would not hate me for having been such a coward over the past few months. The thought of losing her still haunted me, but the thought of her alive and not in my arms was far worse.

The coast was clear ahead. I took advantage of that sliver of peace and temporary safety, due to our invisibility, to stop behind another statue and pull her close to me. I wrapped my arms around her and lowered my head so I could breathe in her scent—the ashes we’d rubbed on ourselves had failed to mask her spicy scent of leather and wild roses.

“Jax, as much as I’d love to, I’m not sure this is the right time to—”

“I just need a second with you, that’s all,” I murmured, my lips brushing against her smooth cheek. “There’s so much about me that you should know, and I plan to make it out of here alive so I can tell you everything.”

“If this is about whatever emotional baggage you’ve been carrying around and using as an excuse to keep me away, then yeah, I look forward to hearing about it,” she replied softly.

“Okay, but for the time being, can you just promise me that you will stay by my side and not do anything too crazy, that you will at least talk to me before you pull a Hansa on me?”

“Define ‘pulling a Hansa’,” she said, gently nuzzling my neck.

She felt so hot in my arms, so soft and perfect. I’d spent a long lifetime feeling incomplete, and the universe had finally rewarded me. The problems, however, did not escape me. I could never perform Pyrope with her, and I had to admit that, deep down, it did make me a little bit sad. Nevertheless, there were plenty of other ways in which I could make her understand exactly how crazy I was about her.

“Running off, charging a horde of daemons like the warrior succubus you are, only for me to jump in and stop at least one of them from decapitating you?” I grinned, my lips looking for hers.

“Keep it up, and you will have more than daemons to worry about.” She slowly lifted her head, responding to my search.

“Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy rescuing you,” I replied, trying to keep myself steady on my feet. She was reining her succubus nature in, but her effect on me was still close to devastating. “It makes me feel a little less… useless when I’m around you.”

“Darling, you are anything but useless to me.”

Movement twenty feet away from us made me freeze. We stilled, barely breathing, and watched as two more soldiers passed us by. I held her tight, feeding off her strength while trying to keep a clear head—her body so close to mine left me dazed, barely functional. I exhaled as soon as the soldiers got farther away.

“I look forward to continuing this conversation later,” Hansa whispered, then took my hand. We moved farther west toward the meranium box.

I’d stared death and destruction in the face a few too many times over the years. I’d learned to take advantage of every second, of every moment when I could simply stop and enjoy the smallest, most beautiful things in life—and holding Hansa in my arms, feeling her skin on mine, and inhaling her dazzling scent had definitely been worth it.

But it was time to get our “kids” out of here. Just as I’d gotten my chance to show Hansa how I truly felt, Blaze and Caia deserved the same. However, if Blaze didn’t take his relationship with Caia to the next level once we got them out, I figured I’d have to smack him over the head in order for him to see what he was missing out on.

Nothing bloomed more beautifully or more powerfully than love at the core of adversity.