"You." I recoiled. She smiled sadly and reached for me. No surprise registered in her expression when I shoved the offending limb away and stepped back, sending a stone clattering over the edge of the platform.

"Me."

"Cian trusted you."

I trusted you; I wanted to add. We'd sat in her home and confided in her. She told me what I was.

Basilus slammed his hand on the arm of his throne, the sharp slap echoing in the chamber. "My mother is quite gifted at deception."

"M-mother? You're Cian's grandmother, then?" Maybe I should have pried into that story. "Did you know then? What we were to each other?"

Amaya's stained fangs were visible in her grimace. "Yes. But if you recall, I didn't want to be involved in hiding you then, and I said he would have to kill you. I never hid what I was or what I was capable of, despite what my son is suggesting."

"You also said Andariens weren't without feeling."

She shrugged. "About their offspring."

"You know what this will do to him. Especially after Bellamy. You may not be putting a knife to his throat," I hissed, flinging my hand toward the cage and wincing when it pulled at the wound in my shoulder. The pain had slowly been increasing, but I'd been so caught up in the unfolding events, I hadn't noticed until now. "But if you help them, you might as well have slit his throat."

"Enough. Your human is showing." Amaya looked up at Shreyna, who was draped over her throne, amusement sparkling in her gaunt face. "Clearly, human genetics overwhelms Andarien."

My mother picked at her fingernails and clicked her tongue against her teeth. "It's a good thing we won't have to worry about it soon. I don't plan on bearing another half-breed before we leave. Though I will say the breeding was fun. Humans are surprisingly durable in the bedroom, and her father was eager to please me."

Gross. If I wasn't about to die, I would mark that down as things to discuss with my therapist later.

Juniper hopped down from her seat. "It's been a long time since we've pulled a Shard from its bearer. Let's make sure we're careful this time."

"Why?" Ajax asked. Scowling, he jutted his chin toward Shreyna. "She just said the transference will heal the body."

"Because you idiot," Amaya answered, "The more there is to heal, the longer it takes. So I suggest you wield your power with a little more finesse than usual because I swear to the highest god, if you fuck this up and then bitch about it, you will never see the inside of Andarie again. Not alive."

Ajax shrank away from the Night Goddess, and if I didn't want to poke her eyes out, I might have cheered her. The woman responsible for my birth had so such compunctions. She clapped loudly. Even Basilus looked amused by his mother's outburst.

"Come along," Amaya said, grabbing me by the arm. Her long nails sank into my flesh. "Time to prepare you."

She dragged me to a door opposite the one we entered. I looked over my shoulder, watching Cian as long as I could until she thrust me inside a new room and shut the door. The moment she released me, I pulled my arm back and planted a fist in the middle of her face, relishing in the crunch of bone and spurt of blood.

"Feel better?" She asked, cupping her damaged nosed to stem the crimson flow.

"Yes." Cracking my neck, I crossed my arms. "Now get on with it. If you're going to kill me, at least do it quickly. It's the least you can do."

Amaya pinched her nose and returned it to its rightful position with a sickening pop. Blood stopped pouring. She wiped her hand across the lower half of her face until all that was left was a single dark red smear above her lip.

Without speaking, she slapped her clean hand on the wall. White light flared beneath it, and a panel opened, revealing another room. Dimly lit by a blue glow, there was a figure sleeping on a stretcher in the center. I hesitated in the doorway, wondering how this person fit into the Shard retrieval ritual.

"Oh my gods, girl," Amaya snarled, snatching me by the arm again and dragging me to the bedside.

"How?" I gasped, hands going around his face. "Who was in that cage?"

"A Fae who owed me a favor, but Bria," Amaya cautioned as I traced the peaceful planes of Cian's face, wanting him to wake but also enjoying this version of him. After seeing him so broken in that cage, I wanted to drink this in.

"What? Why is he asleep?"

"They didn't lie. He thinks you're dead. He would've brought the entire building down if we hadn't sedated him. I've looked into his dreams—"

"You can do that?"

"Night Goddess," Amaya replied with her usual cockiness. "Dreams belong to me. He will not be happy about being woken up."

My thumb paused, settling on his full bottom lip. I looked at her through the curtain of my hair. "I'm guessing you're showing me him because you're helping us?"

"Yes. Of course."

"Then, wake him up."

The petite goddess nodded and touched his temple. If I'd been expecting something flashy, I would've been disappointed. Instead, there was a brief purple spark that faded when she took her hand away. His eyelashes fluttered and raised slowly, revealing glacier blue irises that gazed up at me with utter coldness. He did not move.

"Cian."

My voice acted like a trigger. His eyes bounced around my face, noting every feature. Then, his hand shot forward, going around my throat and squeezing tight.

"Cian," I choked out, grabbing his wrists as he sat up and lifted my feet from the floor. This was like the attack in the car. Everything that made him Cian had retreated. The monster was in control.

"Abomination," he growled, throwing me into the wall.

Amaya hissed. "Please, alert everyone."

"Amaya, what's wrong? Why doesn't he know me?" I asked, scrambling to stand, my back flush against the wall as he approached me.

"I don't know. I told you he wasn't going to be happy," the goddess said, her fangs sinking into her bottom lip as she watched her grandson. "Cian. Stop."

His wings jutted out. The room was too small, and they couldn't expand fully. He didn't look at Amaya when he answered her. "You brought an abomination to me. You think I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between my mate and a glamour?"

"A glamour?" He swiped at me, narrowly missing, as I dived to the side. "Listen here. I know we haven't been together too long... well, really, we're only sleeping together, but even without a magical bond, I've never had a problem with men recognizing me after."

"Guess we know for sure you're Shreyna's daughter," Amaya muttered. "Modesty has never been her strong suit, either."

Cian roared. "Take her face off, you demon! Gods, please. Stop torturing me."

"Cian, it's me."

Amaya came to the rescue as Cian lunged. Purple shadows of smoke and fire erupted from her hands and formed a barrier between me and the raging Andarien. His wings trembled as he pounded on it, tears pouring down his face.

"I don't know what they've done to you to block the bond, but we may have to get you out of here and deal with him later," Amaya said, helping me to my feet. "Much longer and one of those fools will come to check on us."

"Block..." I touched the collar around my neck. "Take it off. Take it off."

She hissed when she saw what I pointed to. "How did I miss that? That's barbaric."

"Can you get it off?"

"One second." Her fingers moved along the collar as the barrier cracked beneath Cian's insistent strikes. His fist punched through.

"Hurry."

The shield shattered. Cian stepped through, his features twisting into something dark and inhuman. Nightmare fuel of leathery skin and sharp teeth.

"There!" The collar snapped open.

The mate bond rushed back, swelling in my chest until I couldn't breathe, but unlike before, it wasn't a filament of strength and light. So much pain and sorrow passed through it, bringing me to my knees even as Cian went statue still, his handsome face returning to normal.

"Bria."

"Cian," I panted.

He dropped to his knees in front of me, his hands shaking as they went around my face. "It's really you? You're alive."

Laughing through tears, I leaned into his touch. "You know, it's not that easy to get rid of me."

His wings drew back into his body, and he leaned in to kiss me. Eagerness drove me to meet him, but before our lips could touch, Amaya cleared her throat, ruining the moment.

"Tender as this is. I'm afraid you two will have to delay physical celebrations."

Cian sighed, sneaking in a brief but emotion filled kiss before helping me to my feet. His arm went around my waist and held me flush against his body. "Thank you, Amaya."

Amaya shook her head and reached into her robe. When she pulled out her hand, finger cracks of iridescent light pushed back the darkness in the room, and when she uncurled her fingers, I had to shield my eyes to look at the object sitting in her palm.

"Is that what I think it is?" Cian asked, his hold tightening until it was almost painful.

"It is. And you have to take it with you. Go to the Fae. I've been told they have the knowledge to complete it without harming Bria."

"Wait. What is it?" I asked, feeling a little slow on the uptake and blaming it on the wall hit and the poison still in my system.

"That," Cian answered, his voice low and rumbling, "is Bellamy's soul."