I couldn’t quite focus on his words, because wild heat was building in my body, a ferocious need that made me want to run into the streets and hunt down Ruadan.

“‘I’ve distilled incubus magic,” Maddan went on. The barguest and Sea Monster flanked him. “I want to know your secrets, and this should get you to loosen up a little.”

I had a vague sense that I needed to attack him, but I just couldn’t think clearly. My legs were trembling with a raw, animal need.

In the next moment, Maddan’s wet hand was around my throat, his face pressed down close to mine.

“Tell me your secrets, gutter fae, while I use you like I used the others of your kind.”

Despite my disgust, a wave of aching need washed over me. He picked up my wrist—the one holding the dagger—and slammed it into the wall. Even as I knew he was hurting me, waves of pleasure washed through me at the force.

He was hiking up my dress, pressing me against the cold wood as I scrambled to remember what I was doing here, what my name was … anything at all. I dropped whatever was in my hand.

“Tell me where you come from,” said Maddan. He ripped the lumen crystal from my neck, shoving it into his pocket.

As I stared into the calculating eyes of the fae prince, clarity came slamming back into me. Since the bastard had stolen my lumen crystal, I could no longer simply jump away.

I brought my knee up hard into his groin, and he doubled over. Then, I gripped his hair, bringing his head down hard onto my knee. Sea Monster lunged for me, and I smashed my elbow into his jaw with the full force of my strength.

So much for moving in the shadows. Any second now, the incubi were about to realize there were a bunch of fae brawling in one of their corridors, and that bodies littered their fuck den. But I was being attacked, three on one, and I had to neutralize these arseholes before I could get out of here.

The barguest growled, and I kicked him hard in the chest. He stumbled back into Sea Monster.

Crush your enemies completely.

At this point, I wanted them all dead. Savus had never instructed us not to kill the other novices, and I suspected he encouraged it.

Bloodlust surged—dark and hungry. I wanted the bodies of fallen fae lying at my feet once more, just like that day in the arena….

When Sea Monster swung for me, I ducked, then punched him in the crotch. He doubled over. As he did, I slammed my elbow into his kidney.

Lightning-fast, I clamped my hands hard on his head, and I twisted. The sharp crack of bone told me I’d snapped his neck, though only iron would kill him for good. A dark smile curled my lips. Death—this was what I was born for.

I whirled to take out Maddan. I hammered him with blows, one after another, bloodying his face, cracking his nose.

I was just starting to gain control of the fight when something pierced my ribs, cold as a glacier. The barguest had stabbed me.

A wave of dread pulled me under.

I looked down with horror at the reaping dagger jutting from my ribs. Emptiness pooled in my chest, a gnawing, glacial magic. I started shaking violently, my veins filling with ice.

And yet … I hadn’t been sent to the shadow hell, yet. Why not? What in the seven hells was happening?

The two remaining shadow fae stared at me. I could no longer control my body, couldn’t lift my fist to punch them. Shivering convulsed me, and I hugged myself.

The two fae males gaped at me as my skin frosted over. I needed my lumen stone back.

The barguest bared his canines. “Why is she still here?”

“She should be in the shadow hell,” Maddan spat, purple magic still flickering at his fingertips. “I told you there was something very wrong with her. Even the void is rejecting her.”

I mastered enough control over my shaking hand to bring it to the dagger’s hilt, and I pulled the blade out of me. But my teeth wouldn’t stop chattering, and the coldness was spreading.

When I’d been with Ruadan in the park, he’d counteracted the iciness of the shadow magic with incubus lust.

What I needed was another hit of incubus magic to warm me up before I froze to death. Through chattering teeth, I managed, “You were so convinced you could seduce my secrets out of me. And yet even with incubus magic at your fingertips, you revolt me.”

Rage flashed across Maddan’s features, and he threw the ball of magic at me. It slammed into my chest. Now, warmth spread through my ribs and deep into my core, melting the intense chill of the shadow magic. Even as I shivered, desire started to blossom in my mind, and I thought of Ruadan kissing me.

As the barguest took a step closer, I felt my back arching, my eyes going dazed. I was trembling with need—but I was no longer freezing to death. For just a moment, I leaned back against a door, closing my eyes. The combination of shadow magic and desire dizzied me.

One of the fae males was yanking off my skirt, and I felt the cold whisper of air slipping over my skin.

I lifted my hands to push him away, mustering up just enough strength to punch him in the throat. It wasn’t a hard punch, but I landed it squarely on his Adam’s apple. He staggered back, snarling.

Then, a blur of black behind him, and the scent of pine….

I stared as Ruadan clamped his hands on the barguest’s head. A glacial fury burned in Ruadan’s dark eyes, his lip curled to expose his canines.

He didn’t simply snap the barguest’s neck. No, Ruadan clamped one arm around Dog Boy’s jaw, the other around his shoulders, and he tore. He ripped the barguest’s head right off. Blood sprayed all over the floor. Not the most discreet way to kill a man, but it looked like wrath had consumed him.

With a burst of shadows, Maddan shadow-jumped away.

Ruadan pulled an iron sword from his sheath, and he brought it down into the barguest’s body. Then, he severed Sea Monster’s head.

Both dead.

Tremors wracked me, a combination of the dagger’s freezing magic and the distilled lust that still pulsed through my core.

I was trying desperately to focus while completely distracted by the feel of my silk shirt sliding against my bare breasts. My fingertips trailed down the front of my chest, and Ruadan’s eyes watched the movement.

Ruadan rushed over to me, grabbing me around the waist so I didn’t fall. I breathed in his masculine scent, and heat radiated from his body. Some part of me wanted to show him how much I ached for him, and my fingertips were inching their way into my knickers.

He lifted my chin to look into my eyes, demanding answers, and I blinked to clear my mind.

“Right.” I leaned into his powerful chest, whispering, “The dagger. Maddan stabbed me with the reaping dagger. And they hit me with distilled incubus magic. They took my lumen crystal.” I clutched at the fabric of Ruadan’s shirt, trying to remain upright as my knees buckled. “Can you shadow-jump with me in your arms?”

He shook his head.

Shit. We’d have to get out here the old-fashioned way. Walking. Except, I couldn’t walk.

Ruadan gripped my waist, and the feel of his hands on me sent molten heat racing through my blood. Since he was an incubus, my desire was distracting him, too. His violet eyes were darkening to black, his animal side taking over. He snarled, his fingers gripping me harder, and he pushed me against the wood of the door behind me. I cupped his face, looking up into his eyes.

Then, a woman’s scream ripped through the nightclub, and fear raked its claws into my chest.

We’d been discovered.