It's been a few weeks since I'd visited Easton but also since I'd had a conversation that lasted longer than a few mere words with Darian. For the better part of eternity, Darian has been ignoring my existence entirely despite me being in the room opposite him.

I have been tossing and turning all night, not being able to sleep nor find a comfortable position. My mind is reeling with all things I just can't seem to forget about.

We have a lead on Serene and if by any chance she is still alive - she should be back here before daybreak. I have missed her more than words can describe, despite not knowing her for five minutes. She had gone out of her own way to take me down to the library which had ultimately gotten her taken.

Oh, how I wish I hadn't been so selfish and had just suffered in silence. If I had just not thought about myself for even a second... Serene would still be here.

I would give anything for my mind to just stop thinking and for it to allow me to sleep.

A shout vibrates the room around me. I look over to my nightstand to see the lampshade wobbling - the intricate diamonds hanging from it shaking gently.

I sit upright in bed, my mind on full alert as another shout provokes everything to begin shaking more vigorously.

It's then that I realise where the shouts are coming from. My head snaps to the door separating Darian and I's room. My heart pounds against my chest... what if he's being attacked? No. He's the King... no one would be as daft as to attack him.

I open the bottom drawer of my dresser, taking out the paperknife I had acquired in the library - in case I need to defend myself or possibly Darian.

Slipping out of bed, I am sure to be as quiet as possible. I creep towards the grand door that is the barrier between life and death. I close my eyes and take a deep breath as my hand wraps around the cold doorknob.

With a soft tug, the door silently opens and I peer in finding it to be too dark to decipher whether there is another person in the room.

Bursting through the door, I keep my hand clutched around the paperknife and scan the room. However, I realise that no one other than a thrashing Darian is in the room.

The moonlight reflects the coat of sweat layering his body as his eyebrows furrow and he shouts again - the sound so loud I stagger backwards, colliding with his desk.

I curse myself for wearing such a short nightgown as it rides up my thighs when I climb onto the bed. I shake Darian's shoulders to wake him up, my hands becoming moist from his sweat collecting on my palms.

"Darian!" I whisper-shout as I continue to shake his shoulders. Darkness clouds around me and I have to calm my breathing. "Darian!" I say louder this time.

I am about to slap him across the face when his eyes snap open and he gasps for breath. His hands search the sheets for his bearings when his hand connects with the inside of my thigh and he visibly relaxes. His touch is cold against the heat of my skin.

Only a second later his eyes fixate on me before they go wide. "What... what are you doing in here?" Darian stammers although he doesn't remove his hand from my thigh.

"What were you dreaming about?" I whisper and his face pales even more if I thought that was possible. His hand squeezes my thigh unintentionally as he closes his eyes and the darkness that surrounds us clears by a margin.

"Stay with me," he breathes, his eyes still closed.

"...No," I scoff after a moment of silence, probably a bit too harshly. There's no way in hell that I am staying with him and having to deal with the mockery that it would result in.

I move to get off of the bed but his hand tightens on my thigh. My eyes meet with where his hand is placed and I can't help the heat that rushes towards my face.

"Why not," he whines like a child. You'd think that the King of the Acheron Court wouldn't beg a woman to sleep in the same bed with him then whine when he gets told no. I'm sure he's not used to not getting what he wants. But, the sooner he gets used to it the better.

"Because you have been ignoring me for weeks," I cross my arms and he groans into the sheets.

"Look I'm sorry... now, please... I am begging Nova and I am not one to beg," his voice is nothing but serious and I sigh.

"I will stay until you fall asleep but I will not sleep with you," I huff and he doesn't try to hide the smug grin on his face - which only makes me wish I had gone through with the opportunity to slap him.

I roll my eyes and tell him to move over as I lay next to him - his scent surrounding me. For once my mind slows. "So are you going to tell me what your drea-" Darian cuts me off.

"No," he snaps and I take that as my cue to be quiet.

A gust of wind blasts through the open windows and I can't help the shiver that runs down my spine. "It's awfully cold in here," I whisper as my hands wrap around my body.

Maybe if you were under the covers you wouldn't be as cold, he speaks although not aloud, as though it's in my head. I roll my eyes and pull back the covers before snuggling into the warmth that fills them... the warmth that I find to be Darian's shadows.

"How do you do that?" I ask and turn to face him. His arms are crossed behind his head causing his muscles to flex and I don't try to hide my gawking at the several tattoos splayed across his upper half.

"You have to open your mind... I usually have a difficult time with you, more so than others, but when you show excessive amounts of a certain emotion your walls crack and I'm able to see into your thoughts and memories," he admits, still facing towards the ceiling.

How about now? I ask, trying to be as open-minded as possible.

Perfect, he muses and I can't help the small laugh that flutters into the darkness.

"Sometimes it happens without me even trying. Like the other night when you were having a screaming match with one of my guards... I was in a rather exhausting meeting but that seemed to lighten my mood," Darian says with a grin.

A crash sounds from the hall and I sit upright, staring straight at the door. "What was that?" I swear to the heavens if this is another attack I will be leaving this castle by dawn.

"Stay here and don't move," Darian evaporates into thin air and I'm left by myself in a room that I am not able to leave so heavens save me if someone manages to get in here because tonight will be my death night.

"Like I can leave anyway," I mutter to myself. Paperknife still in clutch, I make my way to the balcony doors - thinking that if someone enters they will think the room is clear and move on.

Oh, how I was wrong.

I hold out the knife - the only thing keeping me from exposing my power to the wrong people - as a woman hops over the railing. I stagger backwards, hitting into the metal table.

"Who are you and what do you want?" I quiver as the person pulls down their hood revealing an old woman whose face is speckled with scars. One scar that travels deep through her eye socket only makes my hold on the paperknife tighter.

"I'm Agnis... I'm here to save you, young child," the old woman's voice is full of youth - as though if I were to close my eyes I would think an adolescent woman was standing before me.

"Save me?" I question, my grip not faltering. I notice an emerald emblem clipping both sides of her cloak together and everything falls into place. This is no ordinary woman... but the mother witch of the Fortuna coven - Mother Agnis.

That's what explains her young voice but elder figure, how she so easily slipped over the railing. And the emerald emblem... is what is so significant because it is what they harness their power from, what keeps their souls young and powerful. It is said that the only way to kill a Fortuna witch is to crush the very emblem that is their lifeline.

But that doesn't explain why she is here to... save me.

"Yes, from the devilish man that is said to be your future husband... this is no life for you my dear... come my way... let me heal you," she says, although her voice lacks any emotion - as though she couldn't care less about the outcome.

"You're the mother of the Fortuna coven, you're not one to show your face so what makes this so important?" I regret the brashness of my voice but this makes no sense.

"So, you don't lack knowledge in witchcraft. I presumed you wouldn't have a clue... with your princess, future queen, royalty crap you have going on. I guess a pretty face doesn't always mean a lack of education," Agnis snarls and I step towards her.

"Why are you truly here?" I question, with each step getting closer to the emblem in plain sight.

"Now that would ruin the fun, wouldn't it?" her slender hand wraps around the railing, her knuckles turning white from her grip. "But I'll give you a little hint... it has provoked hell-raising fury in me... at the expense of your little powers that you just can't quite get a hang of," she spits.

"The man in the library..." I trail off and she lets out a howl of laughter, the awful cackle causing me to cringe.

"So there were others?" her face turns furious again. "You're a ruthless little thing aren't you," her voice is nothing but disgust as she looks me up and down.

The one person that my mind runs to is Aelin. Oh heavens, how could I have been so stupid... of course, she was apart of the Fortuna coven. Meaning that Agnis has now come here to get revenge - an eye for an eye.

"You see it was a mistake," I begin to reason with her, still nudging forward - the emblem now only a breath away. "I wasn't conscious at the time, I was unable to stop myself," I explain.

"Excuses, excuses... save them, child. I do not wish for your life story, I'm only here to give back what has been received," her demeanour is nothing but complete serenity as if she hadn't just admitted she is here to fulfil her vendetta against me.

Although, I do not blame her. If someone had taken the life of one of my loved ones I wouldn't think twice about seeking my own revenge. I would want to kill them brutally for doing something so horrid - no matter the circumstances.

"You see... I understand completely but... I've already died once in the past month and I'm not quite ready to go just yet," I remember what Anith, the goddess of light, had told me - I was destined for greatness - as I drive the knife through the emblem.

Agnis' eyes meet mine as she begins coughing and I can't help but smile, what a foolish woman. The emerald cracks, the lines running away from the fracture site.

Until she stops coughing but... laughs. A loud, loud laugh and her eyes darken - something completely feral glazing over them.

"You think I would leave my soul on display for anyone to grab a hold of... what a foolish woman," she spits, those words that I had only thought of mere moments ago.

My heart sinks to my stomach and I brace for impact.