The morning light sculpted the masculine planes of his face, and his intense, angry stare rooted me in place. As he crossed the room, his footsteps echoed off the stone walls.

As he’d done every other day, he handed me a tall glass of water and a plate with buttered bread, then started to turn for the door. I realized for the first time how thirsty I was, and I brought the glass of water to my lips, taking a long gulp.

As he moved toward the door, I stopped him. “Why am I here?” I asked, doing my best to hide my rage.

He paused, turning to look at me, the sunlight catching his eyes. I took in his form, the white T-shirt molded around his perfect body. For just a moment, his gaze flicked over the shirt I wore, slightly open at the neck given its size. I watched as his fists clenched, jaw tightening.

“Hello?” I asked, the sweetness quickly leaving my voice. “Why am I here?”

“To stop it all from happening.” An oddly cryptic statement, but what else was new?

“The fighting, you mean? The battle we’re supposed to fight throughout the ages?”

He just glared at me with that ruthless intensity, and my gaze roamed over the scattered star tattoos on his neck.

I loosed a long sigh. “I know that you’re one of us. I know that we all battled each other, that we killed each other.”

“And what do you think we are?” His voice was pure ice.

“The Academy,” I said.

He didn’t even twitch.

“The Academy of Light. You all have the star tattoos.”

He shot me a truly derisive smirk. “The Academy of Light? Is that what they call it in this iteration? They have not been inviting me to their parties.”

I crossed my arms, realizing that the guys might have given me a euphemistic version of whatever the blazes we were. ‘Academy of Light’ probably sounded better than ‘ancient reincarnated warriors forced to battle to the death.’

“Whatever we are,” I snapped, “we’re all supposed to kill each other, right? We battle, again and again, throughout the ages. If we don’t, the world ends. That’s how it works, I think. I saw myself killing Sebastos in one of the visions. I’ve seen you killing me. I’m pretty sure they were different time periods, with different weaponry.”

His jaw clenched. “I never killed you. That’s the whole problem.”

I blinked. “I was sure I dreamed it. And now you want to stop it all. Fine. I’m not really up for a battle to the death either. But what exactly do you plan to do with me?”

“I haven’t decided yet.” His cold, uncaring tone made me shiver in his silky shirt.

And yet—something told me that the more I got him to talk, the easier it would be to get through. I couldn’t escape the feeling that I knew him, that I remembered a volatile personality, someone who felt emotions deeply. And I was certain I could figure out how to use that to my advantage.

“What’s your name?” I asked. “It’s only fair. You know mine.”

“Fair,” he muttered, his glacial eyes flaring. “What do you care about fairness?”

I held his gaze, the air crackling with intensity.

“Ragnar,” he said after a moment.

I hadn’t expected him to give me a response at all, so I nodded gratefully. “And you were once part of… whatever we are. What the other guys call the Academy.”

His lip curled in a sneer, and for just a moment, I thought I caught a glimpse of fangs. “The Academy has brought us only pain. You, especially, have brought us only pain.”

I gritted my teeth. “Okay. All I know is that, clearly, all of us are linked. Are you telling me that’s wrong?”

A muscle feathered in his jaw. “We are all linked, yes. And our job is to stop the world from ending, as you said. But I wonder if things are different this time.” His accent was coming through thicker the faster he spoke, and I sifted through the thousands of questions in my head to keep myself on the right track. “I will not submit this time. I will not submit this time, and I will break—” His muscles went rigid, as if some outside force were restraining him.

“What are you talking about?”

As he began to pace left and right, clearly grappling with some kind of choice, I struggled to keep his mind off what he was going to do to me—whatever it was.

A glint at his belt drew my attention to the silver skeleton key hanging there, and a semblance of a plan began to form in my mind. I needed to shove my anger deep below the surface and find a way to charm him. To get close to that key. I had to figure out some way to get past those barbed-wire-tipped defenses of his and get on his good side.

If I could bring myself to forget that he’d abducted me against my will.

“Ragnar,” I said softly, toying with the hem of his shirt. His gaze slid down my body like a burning caress. “We knew each other well, didn’t we?”

I rose from the cot, aware that my legs were mostly bare, and crossed to him. Honestly, I had no idea how to seduce someone, and the fury etched on his face didn’t exactly put me at ease. I faltered, stopping halfway across the room, and his gaze shuttered, his body going rigid again.

“I’m done here.” Despite his words, he stayed exactly where he was. Ragnar didn’t seem like he could tear his eyes off me. I did my best to flash a coquettish smile, trying to visualize the stress washing away from me.

Steeling my nerves, I took a couple of steps closer to him, closing the gap between us until I could feel an electrical energy pulsing in the air. “You can’t just keep me in this room forever.”

The candlelight glinted in his silvery eyes. There was something so incredibly resentful in his gaze that it was almost painful to look straight at him, but I saw something else in there too… regret? Sorrow? I wanted to find out. I wanted to find out what exactly our history was and how I could use it to my advantage.

“I need to decide,” he said under his breath, clearly not directed at me.

I had to wonder exactly how much time he’d spent on his own. He didn’t exactly seem accustomed to human contact. I took another step closer, now so close that I could feel a dark power thrumming off his body, skimming over mine in icy wisps. I felt so small in front of him, so vulnerable. Like this powerful man might lose control of himself at any moment.

“What do you need to decide?” I asked. “Maybe I could help.”

He grimaced. “No, you can’t.”

“I’ve been here all by myself for days. What if we just ate together? We can talk about whatever you want to talk about. I have nothing to hide.”

His frown deepened. “Eat together?” It sounded like a foreign concept to him, reinforcing my sense that the guy really needed to get out more.

“It’s something that normal people do. And you seem like you’ve been isolated. How often do you see other people?”

He narrowed his eyes, and the smile he shot me was dark and deeply sexual all at once. “I see women. Not to eat with them. They’re drawn to me for other reasons. They can’t resist.” He said this in a strangely erotic voice that I could imagine drawing shuddering moans from a woman. He wasn’t lying.

I took a deep breath. “Okay. Well, maybe sex doesn’t always ease loneliness. Anyway, I just want to talk to someone.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I realized I actually meant them. In fact, I had to work to keep my voice steady.

“Fine,” he said.

His response actually shocked me so much that it must have shown on my face, because he gave a small snort of laughter.

“If you try anything, it won’t work. I want you to understand that I’m not an ordinary man.”

I had no doubt of that. “I know.”

I wasn’t sure what he meant by ‘try anything.’ Maybe he meant my light powers. They hadn’t worked on the death angel, and maybe they wouldn’t work on any of the star-tattooed men. He might have meant an attempt to steal memories and knowledge with a brush of my lips against his—or maybe he meant getting close enough to him to steal that key off his body.

In any case, I had to try. Holly had to be in here somewhere, and I needed to find her.

Catch more flies with honey and all that.

I tried to remember how Holly used to flirt, how she’d reel in guys with her feminine wiles. Bit of cleavage, a little vulnerability. Some flipping of her hair.

I stuck out my lower lip, almost pouting. “Do you hate me for something I did in the past?”

“Yes.” The word was delivered with such ferocity that it hit me like a fist.

Wrong tactic.

He turned for the door. “I will come for you later,” he said over his shoulder.

“Wait!” I called out. “I’ll need something to wear other than one of your shirts and my muddy dress.”

“I save no clothing from the women who visit me here. I have nothing for you.”

“You seem like a clever man. I’m sure you can figure something out.”

When he slammed the door, the sound echoed through the room.