“What’re you doing?”

Rayne couldn’t keep the fear out of her voice.

Nox had pinned her to the floor and stretched his hand over burning debris off to the side. The heavy, ornate ring shimmered with firelight. His deep voice rumbled as he assured Rayne, “Patience.” Flames reflected in his obsidian eyes when he added a vicious smile.

Rayne’s heart raced. She needed longer to recover. Two more minutes. Come on.

Nox hurled his adorned fist at her face. Rayne closed her eyes and braced herself for the strike.

Nothing came.

Holding her breath, Rayne cautiously opened her eyes. When they met his gaze, Nox cupped her cheek.

Rayne screamed. Her skin blistered under white heat as the perversion of the Pretiosum Cruor branded onto her face.

Despite her thrashing, Nox gently pressed his forehead to hers. “That’s it, girl. You’re mine. Until you accept my offer of a nacre, you’ll look in the mirror and think of me.” He pulled away to watch her suffer.

Trapped under his legs, Rayne writhed in pain. Her eyes blazed with hatred. She knew he could see it. He licked his lips, enticed by it. The only one who knew her darkest needs and her gravest fears. Nox personified her worst nightmares.

He gripped a fistful of her hair and brought her face to his. This close, Rayne burned in the flames reflecting in his eyes. “Destiny is patient. So unkind that it would make us mortal enemies.”

Rayne recovered. She grabbed the nearest heavy thing, a cinder block, and smashed him in the face with it.

Nox stood and backed away from her, snarling.

She spun her legs to hop on her feet.

He swung at her.

Rayne caught his fist, hooked her leg onto the bend of his elbow, and used that fulcrum to climb onto his shoulders. From there, she broke the cinder block on top of Nox’s head.

He growled and slammed her to the floor with enough height and force she knew this was the end. At the last second, Nox twisted Rayne into his arms, a breath away from the tiles.

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He said, “You’re too fragile. Killing you takes nothing.”

Rayne’s heart pounded against her heaving chest. Breathless from the near-death experience, she asked, “Nox, why do you want me?”

The King of Cinder brushed her tears across the fresh brand on her face as he said, “Salvation.”

Rayne ground out, “Then why are you hurting me?!”

Nox frowned at her words. “To touch you. I’ve waited eight thousand years to break you and bring you back with me. And now that we’ve begun to dance, I’ll take my time with you.”

“Give me enough time and I’ll kill you,” Rayne said before she wrapped one leg around his neck and squeezed.

Nox tossed her casually to the other end of the hall.

Rayne slid across hot debris and missed a fallen beam by a breath. She groaned.

Sit up. Regroup. Start again—

Rayne stared at something beside her, frozen. Nikki’s body was spread out amid the rubble.

“No!” Why? Why would Nox do this? The young woman had died an awful death. A weapon hadn’t caused her injuries. Then what—

Rayne looked up at the riot gate through the dense smoke. Nox appeared beside her. Before he hauled the gate down, she rolled out of the way.

Almost out of the way.

“Shit!”

The heavy metal of the riot gate crashed into Rayne’s left arm. A sickening, guttural pop erupted from the smashed appendage. Her entire body spasmed in pain, and she screamed through clenched teeth.

“Powerless.” Nox raised the gate.

“No!” She swallowed three heaving breaths, pinned to the spot, and he slammed it down again. Her body jumped and writhed.

“Hopeless.” Solemnly, Nox raised the gate again.

No, no, no, no…

“Accepting.” Staring into Rayne’s eyes, he rolled the gate down one more time.

Rayne hated the tears. Hated the way her limbs flailed outside her control. But most of all, she hated that the pain dissipated in its entirety. Numb was bad. Her arm stopped responding. Her mind begged her not to look.

Rayne crawled onto her side and opened her eyes. “Oh… no…” Was this it? Would it never move again?

Judging by the limpness of the socket, Nox must have dislocated the shoulder. Blood pooled and poured from the middle of her bicep. Something peeked out from the blood. Stark. White. Bone.

Rayne groaned.

Nox stood over her pulverized arm and admired her, staring at the exposed bone.

She scrambled to get away. Right. Now. But she couldn’t move.

He chuckled. “The fighter in you never stops. Good. You’ll need that for your inevitable future. So much worse awaits you.”

Get up.

Rayne pushed. Nothing.

Get up!

Nox was about to fuck her up, and her body refused to move. She’d tapped out her reserves.

Nox fell upon her with a thirst Rayne recognized from her nightmares. “May I have this dance?” Mock gentility dripped from his words. He lifted her numb hand gingerly and placed a soft kiss on the back of it.

Rayne locked eyes with the devil, and for a moment contemplated falling into them. When his lips curled into a gruesome smile, she held her breath, knowing what would come next. Nox gripped her hand and pulled her by her broken arm.

Rayne didn’t scream. She didn’t give him what he wanted. Time. She needed time.

Survive. Recover. Kill.

That was her plan. She just hoped to survive Nox long enough.