The last I saw of Christian was his hunched form as they hauled him away from me at the entryway of Dannek castle.

Desperately, I glanced over my shoulder but I could no longer see him.

Henric, accompanied by two guards, marched me through the castle in silence.

One vampire guard kicked open a set of double doors. Sensing the prison, I revolted, struggling against their hold only to get back handed into the room.

With my cheek burning, I spun, flung my magic at Henric through the open doorway, a powerful bolt that should have dropped him to his knees.

Instead, the magic dissolved into an invisible barrier that shimmered with the remnants of my magic.

On the other side of the open doors, Henric's lips split into a snake-like grin.

"You are your mother's daughter and I don't mean that as a compliment."

"And you are a pathetic jilted lover and that's also not a compliment. Where have you taken Christian?"

"You shouldn't concern yourself with that." Henric said, the sneer falling off his face. "Focus instead on how you're going to kill him."

A bitter laugh escaped my lips. "I won't do it."

"I suspect you will. In fact, I suspect he'll beg you to."

"Never," I said, shaking my head. "He'd never ask me to do that. And you'll have a hard time making me do anything I don't want to do. But maybe you already knew that. From Liana."

Henric chuckled but it wasn't a kind sound. It was hollow and cold, the way the wind howled at night.

"Oh, he will ask. And if you don't, I will kill his siblings in front of him."

Involuntarily, I took a step back as if he'd slapped me.

"Those are your children." I said, stunned. "Christian is your son."

"I can have others." He responded, with a nonchalant wave of his hand. "Less treacherous ones preferably. Now rest up, you have a long day tomorrow."

"Henric, wait!"

Henric's stepped paused, his back to me.

"Kill me instead. That's what you've always wanted, isn't it? To punish my mother for what she did to you? She betrayed you. The worst kind of betrayal, actually." I let out a small chuckle. If I could just goad him into the room, I'd have a real shot at killing him.

"I guess you were the lesser king. You had to be if she chose a Soulsucker over you."

"Silence, you little bitch!"

Henric spun around so fast he blurred, coming at me towards the invisible barrier. It was only out of sheer willpower that he stopped himself before crossing the threshold, his entire body shaking with anger.

"And in that, you differ from your mother." He said slowly, a steely calm washing over him as he composed himself once again.

Calmly, he clasped his hands in front of his robes. "She knew better than to antagonize me with her words. You will kill Christian. Not tomorrow but tonight, by nightfall."

The worst kind of torture was knowing that my big mouth had cost me one less day to find a way to save Christian.

Convincing Henric that his hatred for my mother was stronger than his need to punish Christian had failed. Apparently, Henric had enough room in his heart to do both.

And by forcing me to kill Christian he'd be killing a part of me too and I suspected he knew this. Maybe that's why he'd picked this as a punishment worse than death.

I hated how right he was. Given the choice between his life and his siblings, Christian would choose theirs.

Sighing, I sank into a chair, thinking this would all be so much easier if I could just hate him. If I could just hate his guts and rip these confusing feelings out from my heart.

If I could forget the taste of his mouth and the feel of his hands on my skin.

If I could just, for one moment, stop feeling like he'd lodged himself in my chest and in my heart permanently in a way that both terrified and excited me.

Christian had lied to me, but he'd tried to make it right in the end and I couldn't fault him for trying to keep his family safe. God knew I was trying to do the same for mine.

Something similar to hysteria clawed up my chest. My heart thudded in my rib cage, my legs moving restlessly up and down.

It all seemed so hopeless now.

Like watching two cars rush toward one another on a highway, about to collide head on.

I tried to imagine what killing Christian would be like.

It'd take a great deal of magic but a shot straight through the heart would probably suffice.

As I imagined the light leaving his blue eyes, I had to swallow down the knot that rose in my throat.

"Psst, Aimee."

My eye snapped to the double doors, expecting to find them open with someone on the other side but they remained closed.

"Over here."

Following the sound of the voice, I found a pale hand sticking out from the fireplace giving me a startling shock. My thoughts immediately went to Ally, and I stood, taking a hasty step back.

I readied my magic, determined to fight back against her especially after what she had done to me back in Italy.

"Hurry, it's me, Ciana, take my hand."

Without hesitating, I lunged across the room, gripped her awaiting hand which tightened around mine. As she pulled, a current of cold flashed through my bones and then I found myself on the other side of the fireplace, in a dimly lit corridor.

"Daciana. He's going to kill him, Henric is going to kill Christian! I tried taking his place, but my big mouth only made Henric move up his execution time to tonight and I--"

"Aimee, breathe." Daciana said.

Her and Brandon stood side by side looking like ghosts in the darkness.

"It's my fault." I said, shaking my head. "For antagonizing him."

"Father didn't move the execution up because of anything you said, Aimee. He did it because the Defenders Christian contacted for help gave him until midnight to release you. If he doesn't, they will attack the castle."

"What the hell is a Defender?" I asked, confused.

"Bodyguards, more or less. Faeries created them for protection and they're here for you. Because you're one of theirs."

"Well, that's great but that doesn't change anything for Christian. Henric wasn't bluffing when he said he'd kill him, I know it."

"No, he was not." Brandon admitted somberly.

"So, what are we going to do? We have to save him."

"Aimee..." Daciana trailed. "We don't know that we can. We were hoping, well, I guess we were hoping that..."

"Just say it!" I snapped.

"We were hoping you would have a plan."

Defeated, my shoulders slumped.

"That I'd have a plan?" I repeated with a laugh, though there was no humor in it. "What about Grandfather Nandru's magic?" I asked, swiveling on Brandon. "Can't you do whatever you just did back there to get Christian out?"

"I'm afraid Grandfather Nandru is not in the castle. Besides, the dungeon is safeguarded against Faerie magic."

"There has to be something else."

"I'm sorry, Aimee, but no Faerie magic can penetrate the dark magic Henric has laid down below."

"What about vampire magic? Your kind has to have something stronger, anything."

"Well, there is one thing..." Daciana trailed, eyes shifting to Brandon.

"Ciana, no." Brandon growled. "You know Christian would never approve of it."

"Tell me." I snapped. "I'll do anything."

"Don't say it." He warned, more gently this time. "You know how it could end for her."

Daciana bit her lip, eyes dashing back and forth between her cousin and me, one hand clasped against her chest.

"You could use dark magic to get into the dungeon. Hybrids are capable of it." Daciana blurted. "I'm so sorry, Brandon, but I can't let him die!"

"I'll do it." I said, "Just tell me what I have to do."

"Aimee, this sort of magic can kill you. Do you understand that?"

Glancing down at Brandon's sudden grip on my arm and seeing the pain swirling in his eyes, something dawned on me.

"Is that what happened to Milagros?" I asked.

Clearing his throat, he looked away, looking as if someone had punched him in the gut. "Did Christian tell you about her?"

"No. I heard you talking about her at the Villa Rafaello while I was unconscious. She was a hybrid, wasn't she?"

"Yes."

"What happened to her?"

Shaking his head, he released my arm and looked at the ground. "It was a deal gone wrong. I traded information with the wrong people, and she had to fight them using dark magic so we could get away. I--" He swallowed hard. "She took her life shortly after because of it. So please, Aimee, we'll figure out another way. Dark magic is dangerous."

"I'm sorry that happened to someone you loved, Brandon, but I am not Milagros." I said gently. "Please, take me to Christian before Henric realizes I'm gone."

The dungeon was dimly lit and surprisingly unguarded.

Perhaps there was no need to guard it, especially when you could feel the level of darkness emanating from the depths of Dannek castle.

Brandon and Daciana stopped short of the cement steps leading down below.

A cold like no other seeped into my bones.

A terrible, heavy feeling threaded its way into my chest.

I swallowed, gazing down into the darkness.

"You're on your own from here." Brandon said.

"You need to distract Henric. Make sure he doesn't realize I'm gone until I can free Christian and then we all get the hell out of here."

"We will but please, Aimee, be careful." Daciana said, squeezing my hand once before letting go.

"Please come back." Brandon said, meeting my eyes with a meaningful, almost pleading look.

Come back.

Those words echoed in my head until their footsteps had rescinded, and I was left alone in front of the dungeon.

Come back, he'd said. But something about the way he'd said it made me think he didn't mean from the dungeon.

When Daciana had said dark magic, I knew exactly what she'd meant, because this wasn't the first time I'd used it.

I'd done it before, without even realizing it. Once, when I'd melted the bars at the Verlac vineyard and a second time when I'd hurled a ball of dark magic at Christian inside this very castle.

I flinched at the memory, wondering what had possessed me to hurt him.

Hell, I'd be the first to admit I could be toxic but that was a whole other level.

Dark magic is what it was.

Taking a step forward, I ran into an invisible wall.

Taking a deep breath, I thought of the things that made me the angriest.

It started in my chest, something dark and tangible, a slow spreading of claws across my heart. A darkness.

Hatred slowly filled my being and the only face I could see was Henric's.

Black, wispy tendrils of magic rose from my hands.

With another step, I descended into the dungeon.