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Heat unfurled beneath my skin, slow and invasive, tingling along my jaw, my throat, down the delicate column of my spine.

The music swelled, suddenly louder and richer. Each note pressed against my skin as if it were being played directly against my bones as the God of Hells smiled down at me.

“When you find your betrothed, unmask him—and the vows shall begin. Linger too long, and you will answer for your sins. Do not be led astray by lust. The cure to the poison lies within your lover’s kiss,” Astaroth murmured, his voice coating the inside of my head and making my vision swim.

Before my sluggish tongue could respond, he stepped backwards and was swallowed into a sea of dancing couples.

A man grabbed my hand and pulled me close to his body.

I should have pulled away. I should have fought. But I couldn’t. My skin buzzed where his palm splayed against my lower back, heat threading through my limbs as he spun my pliant body into the waiting sea of dancers.

What is happening to me?

The thought drifted sluggishly through my mind, dulled by whatever was poisoning my senses, reducing me to nothing but skin and the sinful awareness of his touch.

Against my will, I placed my hand against the man’s sharp jaw and my fingers buzzed, my skin becoming too hot.

Astaroth’s laughter echoed around me from every direction as the masked man pulled me into a spin me until my back was flush against his broad chest.

His breath ghosted through my hair, and I bit down on the sound clawing up my throat.

Heat unfurled through me, dizzying and intrusive, pooling low in my stomach until I shifted restlessly, confused by the urgency tightening beneath my skin.

“Tick… Tock.” Astaroth’s whisper wove through the music and wrapped around me.

Before I could gather my thoughts, the man’s hands tightened at my waist before he pushed me into the candlelit sea of silk and masked dancers.

I twirled, my crimson dress glimmering around me like a sea of blood as he spun me away. I crashed into another’s arms. A gloved hand intercepted mine mid-turn and without pause, without permission, I was claimed by another masked man.

My feet moved of their own accord to the intoxicating music.

The brown-haired male who spun me around was wearing a fox mask, and he smelled alluring in the most dangerous way. His chest brushed against my nipples, and suddenly my body felt too hot and my mind too sluggish.

Through the unnatural lust flooding my veins like molten honey, a single truth cut through the fog: Helion and I were both pieces in a game I didn’t know I would be forced to play.

Chapter Seven

Vows of Betrayal

Lyra

Music flowed through my veins, embodying me until it became all I was.

I was the rise and fall of the strings, the pause between the notes and the rhythm of the melody.

I wasn’t sure how long I had been dancing, or how many men had held me against their bodies as we twirled to the rhythm of this twisted game.

I did not exist outside of the dance and the touches that set my skin ablaze.

The chandelier cast refracted light, scattering across the suggestive smile of the masked male who pressed me against his body.

His hand splayed low on my back and the urge to feel it press lower made my blood boil.

I wanted to taste him.

To give in to the desire taking over my body.

But something deep within me knew this wasn’t right.