When she woke up, she was lying in a bed. The room was empty. She couldn’t see Elias, nor anyone else for that matter. She felt the pain in her chin and the hard metal around her foot. He had chained her. A handwritten note lay on the table.

  “I’m sorry, but you gave me no other choice. There is bread and something to drink. I’ll try to come back for you as soon as possible.”

  She gathered her magic and tried to burn her way through the metal without success. Of course, it was reinforced to withstand magic. The chain reached the small kitchen table and the toilet. She tugged at the chain, but it was firmly fixed to the wall. By its design, the room must have been built solely to chain someone to its very foundation. Someone had done their homework. There were no windows, and the walls were thick, absorbing her shouts for help.

  “Fuck.”

  She punched the wall. It hurt, and it felt good. There was absolutely nothing she could do before Elias returned. She threw her other fist at the wall. Her knuckles bled. When she closed her eyes, she saw the flames consuming her home, the flames consuming her mother.

  The patch on her throat only reminded her of her failure.

  “I hate you.”

  She forced the orb out of her body, looking at its dark purple surface. This was the essence of Elias. She had taken a good part of his magic from him. Still, he had won. The stray cat had been far more dangerous than his reputation. She would kill him, but first, she would make him pay. Her revenge would be slow, sweet, and it would hurt far more than losing an orb.

  Her fingers stroked the globe, touching and consuming it piece by piece, as if by studying it she would figure out what he cared about most. It resembled an onion. Each layer was darker and more complex, with soft, almost invisible layers in between—so thin she almost missed them. He had darkness, but there was more. There were things he cared about, and things that saddened him. She would have to reach for those.

  It was time to plan revenge, and it was time to sleep. Her head hurt.

  The sound was faint, but she heard it.

  “If you’re thinking about throwing that at my head, I’d think twice.”

  He closed the door smoothly, looking at the jug in her hands. It was childish, and she hadn’t thought of throwing it. She would have waited until he was close enough to actually put some force behind it.

  “I hate you.”

  “I’m sure you do. Since you’ve taken part of my magic, I’d have to say it’s mutual.”

  Sasha had to look away. His face reminded her of her cottage, of the flames, of the unnaturally high sparks.

  “I didn’t kill her if that’s what you think.”

  There was a softness to his voice.

  She spun around, still holding the glass jug tightly in her hands. Ella wasn’t dead? She had seen the fire. No one could have survived that—not even Ella. He answered her questions as if he could read her mind.

  “I let her go. She was the one responsible for the show. She set the cottage on fire when she was at a safe distance.”

  “You let her go?”

  “Don’t sound so surprised. How else would you have preferred I handled it? Would you rather I killed her?”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Elias looked offended, as if the mere thought of her assumption had hurt him.

  “Because she’s your mother?”

  He didn’t even flinch. So it was true. He had been told.

  “Yes.” He straightened up, looking all business. The shame she thought she’d seen before was completely gone. “Don’t pretend I’m the good guy. I have questions, and the only way to get answers is to let her live. Which means my father’s place is by far the last place for her to be.”

  “I… thanks,” she said. Even if he hadn’t acted out of the goodness of his heart, Sasha couldn’t care less. Ella was alive, and that was all that mattered.

  “Which takes us back to you.” He quickly took the jug out of her hands. “I need that orb back.”

  She hissed under her breath.

  “I’ve already said I traded it.” She shrugged. Ella was alive, and Elias was not her problem—not anymore. She just had to figure out how to get rid of him. The less she had to do with him, the less blame Ella would put on her when he was killed.

  Elias let out a heavy sigh. He pulled a necklace from his pocket.

  “I don’t care who has it. I need it back, and I’ll do just about anything to get it.”

  When Sasha didn’t answer and just shrugged her shoulders, he came closer. He leaned in, his breath almost brushing her cheek.

  “You know, I set Ella free. Everyone thinks she’s dead. No one will look for her.”

  Sasha’s smile was full of disgust. He would not intimidate her. She stood on her toes, whispering slowly in his ear.

  “And I’ve said thank you very much, sir. Unfortunately, I don’t have your beloved orb.”

  Elias put his hands on her shoulders, pushing her down and looking straight into her eyes.

  “You see, this is where I’m right and you’re wrong.”

  Sasha froze. He couldn’t know that she still had it, inside of her. It wasn’t possible.

  “You will help me find the orb, or I will tell. I’ll tell them Ella never died—that she slipped through my fingers.” Elias narrowed his eyes, the yellow light in them reduced to a thin slit. He looked like a predator, his grip on her shoulders growing firmer. “I bet the king will send someone more efficient next time.”

  “I hate you.”

  Elias chuckled.

  “Well, since you insist—and you intrigue me—I’ll give you a one-time offer. You seem to feel passionate about me,” he said sarcastically. “Please ponder thoughtfully before turning it down. It’s quite unique.”

  “What?” Sasha asked.

  “You may kiss me if you want,” Elias offered. “See if you can turn the prince into a frog.”

  He was indeed the devil and the prince in one person. Somehow, the almighty seemed to think she would be flattered. Sasha almost laughed. Instead, she spat on the floor. The royals surely lived in a world of their own.

  “I think I’ll pass. I prefer stronger men, and you seem to need far too much maintenance.”

  Elias came closer, his words almost too low to hear, his breath caressing her neck. Sasha shuddered. She didn’t want to, but she did. A jolt of pure energy shot from her ears down to her feet. Her toes curled. She inhaled sharply. By the monsters of the king, did he smell good.

  “Does your boyfriend make you shiver the way I make you?”

  He kissed her earlobe, sucking it in and pressing just enough with his teeth. Sasha was dumbstruck with surprise. She wished she’d pushed him back, that she’d laughed in his face. She wished she’d thought of some sassy reply. Instead, she let the feeling he invoked in her get the better of her. Sasha wasn’t going to let any of them win. She moaned and grabbed his hip.

  He was the one to let go first. Her cheeks stung from anger and humiliation. She knew he’d done it to punish her. He wanted an outburst, a slip of her tongue, to tell him to leave her boyfriend out of this. He was so sure she wouldn’t call the bluff. Well, she just did. And she didn’t regret it.

  “If Isaak were here, he would have killed you.”

  There was no reason to pretend otherwise. He obviously knew her boyfriend.

  “Well, I guess I don’t like my girls weak either,” he said. “Such a waste of a good start,” he continued, turning away as if what they’d shared was nothing. As if her inner turmoil meant nothing.

  Sasha turned away as well. She hadn’t a clue how she would maneuver this. She didn’t want to return the orb. They had waited far too long for an orb of this shade of purple. The magic within them came directly from the source of their ancestors. That kind of magic only ran in the finest families—and even then, Ella’s orb had been silver-grey, nothing like Elias’s.

  Honestly, she had never met anyone like him. The orb enthralled her, the purple almost like black ink.

  “I want to see Ella. I will help you, but first I have to know that you speak the truth.”

  It was a lie, of course it was. Elias would not be around long enough to collect her help though.

  “Or we pay your boyfriend a visit first, preferably before he gets the time to sell my soul. Then we talk with Ella, you are not the only one that wants the truth.”

  “Don’t be so dramatic, it was just some sliver of your magic, hardly your soul.”

  “It doesn’t feel like that, and frankly I don’t care. Its mine and no one takes what’s mine.”

  Sasha smiled. She had, and she would be sure to keep it that way.