And with that, he rose slowly from the chair as if his bones ached and laid on a hand on my shoulder before heading for the door.

The right thing.

“And just what is that?”

“You’ll have to do what our ancestor didn’t.” With that fairly useless remark, he left.

I pressed my fingers to my temples. I couldn’t lie to myself anymore. Sierra was the key to everything - the power of the Unconsecrated, my family’s survival, our ascent. She would help us – whether she was good or evil, but especially if she’d gone over to dark magic. And if she had, we’d tear down the walls between light and dark, fling open the gates to the underworld. Let the damned walk amongst the living. No more hiding or waiting. We’d own them all.

I’d expected to feel excitement, power at the thought. But there was only a hollow pit in my stomach.

With a grimace, I shoved my hands through my hair.

I stalked over to the mini-bar I kept, splashing vodka into a glass and downing it in one gulp. I poured another and swallowed till it burned down my throat. Then another. Maybe drowning myself in liquor would solve everything.

But it never did.

The room spun around me, darkness pulling me under like a riptide. Yet I couldn’t escape the images of her in my mind. Sierra - chained to the wall, begging for mercy, her eyes wide with terror, but also...something more.

The vision changed. I was at Ravenswood, in front of her dorm. I twisted the knob and pushed it open.

Her room was a mess. Clothes strewn about, drawers emptied on the floor. Like she’d been searching for something. Or running from something.

I stepped inside, closing the door behind me.

Her scent filled the air - sweet like cotton candy and mixed with something feral.

My heart picked up its pace.

The darkness within urged me forward, pushing me towards her bed, where her crumpled form lay beneath the blanket.

“Sierra?” I asked again, my voice strange and unrecognizable.

She didn’t answer.

Fear gripped me, cold fingers squeezing tight. I reached out and pulled her covers back, slowly.

I gulped when I saw her there, as if she was asleep. Long lashes fanned out against her cheeks, but there was an unknown energy to her.

I swallowed hard. She looked so...fragile. Her breathing was ragged, soft moans escaping her lips.

I’d made her like this.

I couldn’t stop staring at her. Every inch of her was mine, my marks blooming on her collarbone, her breasts, her thighs.

I knew I should leave, get Heath and Riley, but my feet were glued to the spot.

She shifted, tossing her hair over her shoulder, revealing a smear of blood on her lower thigh. I bent and cleaned it with my tongue.

The next moment, I was back in my bedroom, the scent of vodka rising from the carpet where I laid.

What the fuck was all that?

CHAPTER 6

HEATH

WARNER ESTATE

The staircase was lit only by the pale moonlight filtering through the stained-glass windows. It cast an eerie glow over everything, making the marble floors shine like ice and the dark woodwork seep with menace. After I made my way down, I walked swiftly through the halls, my mind whirling with questions and concern. Tor, Riley, and Enzo were already waiting in the library when I arrived, their expressions grim.

“What’s this about?” I asked, closing the door behind me. The only other person in the place besides us was my Uncle Harris, but he was still passed out in the dungeon where I’d left him. Tor’s dad was back home where he belonged, and everyone else had scattered a while back, taking shelter elsewhere after Carlos’ attack on the estate. It was nice having the manor to myself without my parents and Lyle-the-snitch-butler hanging about. As long as Maroni’s henchmen didn’t come back any time soon, we were good here. At least, as good as we could be with our world crumbling around our ears and Sierra missing.

Torin’s face tightened as he ran a hand through his hair, and my gut clenched. Whatever his reason for getting us together wasn’t going to be fun.

“What is it, Murphy?” I asked, dread making me stiff.

“I have something to confess,” he said quietly. “And I need your help.”

Riley and Enzo exchanged glances, quickly concealed shock passing through their expressions. They knew Torin well enough to understand when something was off.

When Tor remained quiet, I asked warily, “What’s going on?”

I started to use the spirit connection between us to search for information but decided against it. With Sierra’s disappearance, Harris and Gerald returning from the grave, and Carlo Maroni’s goons running wild, it was probably a bad idea to delve deeper into darkness.

Tor let loose an f-bomb under his breath, low and raw. “I cast a memory spell on Sierra,” he admitted in a rush. “To make her focus more on the positive experiences with us. Enhance her desire.”

The room fell silent as the words hung in the air like radiation after a nuclear explosion, the fallout of which is immediate ... then long-lasting.

Apart from the initial shock that he’d done it behind our backs after we’d agreed not to mess with her memory, the implications were setting in with regard to the bonding ceremony: She had to have mated with us willingly for it to work.

“You motherfucker!” Enzo shot out of his chair.

Riley grabbed him before he got hold of Tor, though Riley’s expression was filled with disappointment.

“What the hell, man?” I whispered harshly, a cocktail of anger, betrayal, and hurt burning my throat.

“I know,” he said miserably, and Riley, still between Tor and Enzo, sighed.

Rye’s expression was equally disappointed, but not entirely surprised.

“Did you know about this?” I asked, not sure I could handle a betrayal from him too.

He shook his head. “But I was afraid he might,” he said, and Tor glanced at him sharply.

Riley shoved him back. “But I never thought he’d be stupid enough to do it.”

“I should fucking kill you,” Enzo snarled, towering over them.