I spent hours running through the depths of the forest. When the sun fell lower behind the trees and the shadows stretched over the rich soil, my head began to clear a little.

Blood and berry juices stained my fingertips, and I paused by the stream to wash them off. As I did, I realized my mouth tasted faintly of blood, too. Was it my own?

I honestly had no idea. Either I’d been eating raw animals, or I’d bitten my tongue.

I winced. Hopefully I hadn’t bitten Elan. Sometime during the day, I’d lost track of him, maybe around the time we’d chased a stag into a cave.

At the base of a hawthorn tree, I washed out my mouth with the clear spring water. When I finished, I looked down at my body, relieved to find that, throughout all the chaos, I’d managed to keep my succubus glamour intact, and the charcoal magic still shimmered around my body. At some point, I’d obviously jumped into the stream, because my wet dress now clung to my body.

Still, I couldn’t feel the cold. Only that I was alive.

I’d made it through the day without revealing myself to the angels, without running into any of them—I hoped. And now I just had to wait until Hazel arrived here at the castle.

Maybe I could go inside and sit in a cold bath until the last waves of Eimmal dissipated from my body.

Another hot wave of euphoria rippled over my skin, and I dug my fingertips into the muddy earth by the stream, my mind spinning. I had the strangest desire to rub the mud all over myself…

Hastily, I plunged my hands into the cold water again. Think strategically, Ruby. Get back to the castle. Clean up your room. Get everything in order for Hazel’s arrival.

My memory was hazy, but—had Elan broken the door this morning?

I forced myself up, my body dripping with icy spring water.

Half in a daze, I began walking back to the castle, my feet crunching over leaves.

I was as prepared as I could be if suspicion continued to turn against me—weapons buried, tipped with poison. Seeds of doubt planted between Johnny and Kratos. I knew how to channel right into the power of the Old Gods, if only I was willing to risk my sanity. Which—let’s face it—after today didn’t seem like a super valuable commodity.

Even as I tried to think clearly, incoherent thoughts swarmed my mind as I stumbled toward the castle.

A sea of peat, a throne of blackthorn, bluebells beneath my fingertips, a stream flowing with wine…

I pulled open the oak door, then dragged myself up the stone stairs.

Lichen-covered bones, the beating heart of a stag…

I clenched my fists tighter, piercing my own skin. Maybe once inside, I could look out the window for signs of Elan.

When I reached my floor, I crossed into the hallway. As soon as I turned left, I glimpsed the destruction from earlier today—the shattered door, the splintered wood.

Well, there was a good chance Johnny had been drinking today. I could always blame him.

But as I crossed the threshold into my room, I saw an unmistakable swirl of inky magic and midnight wings gilded with amber flecks of dying sunlight.

Adonis was leaning against one of the bedposts in my room, his arms folded, a faint smile on his lips. “Interesting day, Ruby? I happened to walk past your room, and I saw the door smashed. Then I caught sight of you walking outside the fortress, barefoot and drenched. If I asked the sentinels what you were up to today, what would they tell me?”

Oh hell. Here we go.

I wasn’t ready to see one of the angels yet, and the force of his heartbreaking beauty slammed into me. I stared at his golden skin, the stormy gray eyes that faded to midnight blue… I’d never seen anyone so beautiful in my life.

Snap out of it, Ruby, you idiot. I wasn’t going to stand here and moon over one of these egomaniacal vultures.

As he walked closer to me, a seductive smile playing about his lips, I clenched my fists so tightly that I’m pretty sure my palms started bleeding.

So close to me, his magic electrified my body, making my back arch. I hated this effect he had on me, and as I stood there barefoot, naked apart from my drenched green gown, I felt gloriously naked before him.

Scavenger. Bird of prey. “Carrion bird,” I said out loud, without really meaning to.

“Did you call me a carrion bird?” He shook his head slowly. “Oh, my lovely Ruby. And I thought we were getting along so nicely last night when you danced for me.” His forehead crinkled. “Was I wrong to think that you liked the feel of my mouth on your skin?”

His words sparked a vivid memory, and an unwelcome, warm thrill rushed through my veins. Despite myself, a hot flush spread over my chest.

Before, when I’d been with Elan, I’d simply felt wild, maybe a little violent. Ready for a hunt.

Now—alone with Adonis’s seductive magic—my body trembled with anticipation for something else, every inch of my skin ripe and full as a rowan berry.

“I felt nothing,” I managed. I took a step away from him, backing up against the stone wall.

Surprise flickered across his features. “Is something worrying you, Ruby?”

“No.” It was a lie. Everything about him entranced and terrified me at the same time. As his magic rippled over me, I felt as awestruck as I had with my knife stuck into the silver rowan branch.

Staring at him, I shivered, goosebumps rising over my skin.

His gaze moved slowly over my body. “Why have you bathed in a river in February? You’re freezing.”

We’d left the window open earlier, and the forest wind rippled over my skin, cooling some of my fevered blood. I still couldn’t think of what I needed to say to Adonis.

He took another step closer to me, folding his dark wings around me in a sort of protective barrier from the February gale that rushed into the room. His seductive magic coiled around me like a dangerous caress, making my body strain against the silk I wore.

“Are you going to tell me who you really are?” he asked quietly.

I stared at his throat, where a vein pulsed in his neck, drawing my eye. So much death and life all in one creature.

He gazed down at me, his stormy eyes entrancing me. “What were you doing out there, barefoot and barely dressed?” he asked in a deep whisper.

The scent of myrrh curled around me, and his warmth pulsed over my body. What did I want from him? I couldn’t think clearly right now. I could only think of pulling off my dress and running my hands over him.

The feel of silk against my bare skin had never tortured me so much.

Slowly, his hands slid over the wet silk of my gown, thumbs pressing gently in the hollows of my hips.

It was Eimmal, and I should be naked. I bit down hard on that impulse—but not the one to pull him closer to me, to press my body against his until his heartbeat pounded against my skin.

Poison hemlock, I told myself. And then, but just one taste won’t kill me.

I stood on my tiptoes, my body sliding against his as I made myself as tall as possible. Then I reached out and cupped my hand around the back of his neck. His eyes remained completely transfixed on mine, as if he were trying to read a book in a language he couldn’t quite understand.

At the feel of his skin beneath my hand, a fresh wave of euphoria rushed through my body. His veins beat beneath my skin in an entrancing rhythm. Silver flared in his stormy eyes.

Vulture, I tried to tell myself. Poison hemlock. But I could no longer quite remember what the words meant, or why they mattered. Or, in fact, why words mattered at all.

I pulled him down to my level and kissed his neck, first lightly, then hungrily, my tongue moving over the pulsing vein in his neck. I needed to taste him, to feel the warmth of his naked body against mine, to feel his mouth all over me.

Poison hemlock! Somewhere in the darkest recesses of my mind, the words rang like a death knell.

I pulled my mouth away from his throat, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to take my hands off him.

His eyes burned, and his midnight wings still curled around me. Dark magic whirled around us, shielding us from the sentinels’ view.

“You shouldn’t have stopped.” The sensual timbre of his voice was more of a command than the words themselves.

From my hips, he trailed his fingertips up my ribs to the strap of my gown. Despite myself, despite what I knew about him, I ached for him to pull it off me. As if hearing my thoughts, he slipped his fingertips under the silk strap. Slowly, he pulled it down, and the cool forest air kissed my bare skin, peaking my breasts. Yes. This is what I want on Eimmal.

My neck arched in a silent invitation. When I closed my eyes, his mouth warmed my neck. His tongue flicked over my skin, then a hint of teeth brushed against the most vulnerable part of my body until I practically moaned.

As he slowly moved his mouth lower over my skin, wild lust pooled between my legs. More.

One of his hands moved down, pulling up the hem of my dress, fingertips brushing against my thighs. They skimmed over my knife holster, but he didn’t seem to mind. In fact, the feel of the knife elicited a low growl from him. As his mouth moved over my breast, his other hand was traveling up my leg, fingers moving lazily—so painfully slowly. Torturing me, he brushed his fingertips up the inside of my thigh, lifting my dress higher.

I’d gone without underwear today and should be stopping him. Instead, I practically moaned as the cool, February breeze whispered over the bare skin under my dress.

He was taking his time with me, and these slow movements of his were a strange sort of torture. I needed more from him, needed him to kiss me hard.

I gripped him by the collar of his shirt, pulling his mouth up to mine. I pressed my lips against him, kissing him with wild abandon, my tongue brushing against his. He’d lifted my dress now, his hand cupping under my thigh, and I hooked a leg around him, pulling him closer to me.

As he claimed my mouth, I lost all sense of time and place, my body beaming with pure ecstasy.

I am blood and moss, earth and claws, a creature who runs naked through the forest, berry juices running down my chin…

A jolt went through my body as I felt myself changing… fading.

Oh hell.

I pushed Adonis away, and his eyes went wide with shock. A lock of my hair blew in front of my face in the chilly breeze.

With horror, I realized it had faded to a pale gold. My eyes would be silver, my canines sharpened, ears pointed.

No.

I’d dropped my glamour. All of it.

“Ruby.” His voice was a deep rasp.

Horror clawed at me. I’d just blown my own cover—with the one angel who hated feral fae.

Frantically, I pulled up the hem of my gown to break into a sprint. With the glamour dropped, I could move at full speed, and my legs carried me fast out the door.

I nearly froze in the hallway—there, at the other end of the corridor, stood Johnny, gaping at me, the feral fae running around the angels’ castle.

That made two angels I needed to take care of.

Run, Ruby. Run for your weapons.

At the full speed of an unglamoured fae, I raced into the stairwell, pounding down the stairs. I moved like the wind, a blur of speed, until I was out in the forest air again.

My feet hammered the damp soil. My pale hair whipped around my head as I ran, at one with the spring air.

Get to the weapons.

I wasn’t holding back anymore. I was going to fight with the full force of my power, and I knew exactly where I needed to go. I was going to draw angel blood today.

I reached the buried weapons within moments and dropped to my knees. My body blazing with adrenaline, I clawed in the dirt, digging up the soil until I reached my buried bow and arrows.

As I slung the quiver over my back, the shadow of wings swooped over me.

I looked up at the angel coming in for a landing nearby—gray wings and a scrawny physique. Johnny had come for me.

I nocked one of my poison-tipped arrows, getting ready to aim.

But as I did, Johnny flung out his arms, and utter darkness fell over the forest.