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His hands wound around my waist, pulling me backwards into the hard ridges of his abdomen. My pulse fluttering in my chest as I turned in his grip, resting my hands on his shoulders. He towered over me, almost shocked as me by my easy show of affection.

“No, you don’t,” he said, and the words came out too close to pleading. “Trust me.”

That was the problem. Some fractured, foolish part of me did.

And that only fed the fire beneath my need to remember.

I rose onto my toes before I could think better of it, before pride or the thought of Rythos’ could drag me back. My hands slid up Helion’s chest, over the hard line of his shoulders, and curled around the back of his neck. His breath caught as my fingers tangled in the soft strands of his hair, and when I tugged lightly, his composure cracked.

He looked down at me as if I had become the edge of a cliff and he was already falling.

Those storm-coloured eyes dropped to my mouth, amber flecks burning through the grey with a heat that coiled low beneath my skin. The bond between us stirred, golden and hungry, slipping through the hollow places where my magic had been drained.

I needed power, and he was the closest male who could give it to me. That was what I told myself as I drew him down despite my pulse fluttering wildly.

Our lips brushed, ghosting over each other.

A trembling breath left him, and the sound of it nearly undid something inside me. Such a small touch, and yet he reacted as if I had placed my hand around his heart and squeezed.

I should have pulled away, but instead, I found myself sinking into him.

His restraint shattered the moment my mouth opened beneath his. He kissed me like a man starved, like every cruel thing he had done had only been another way of begging to get me here. One hand cradled my face with devastating gentleness while the other pressed against the small of my back, dragging me closer until there was no space left for lies between us.

Heat poured through the bond. Not sunlight now, but fire.

It slid beneath my skin, filled my veins, and woke the magic sleeping in my bones until I could feel it reaching for him, drinking him in, taking what I needed while pretending I did not want the way he trembled against me.

Helion made a broken sound into my mouth, and gods help me, I swallowed it.

The glimmering pool of turquoise power swirled in my chest, ready to unleash. I broke the kiss, leaning my forehead against his.

“Stay here,” I said, voice fracturing into layers as my power trickled through it, giving him a command he would be unable to disobey.

But instead of the iridescent sheen shimmering across his eyes, there was only hurt.

“Moonflower, sea salt, a drop of each of our blood,” he murmured, hands rising to grip my forearms with a strength that took my breath away. “The ingredients Cerilla required to make me a charm against your Siren song during my visit to the Nether,” he gritted through his teeth, prying my hands off him and shaking his head.

Fucking Cerilla.

I turned on my heel and ran.

Helion cursed behind me, and a heartbeat later, the muted thud of his boots hit the ash-covered pavement, following close enough that I could feel the heat of his pursuit at my back.

I wove through the maze of white marble. Through the towering walls veined with gold and smeared with soot, letting the tug in my chest guide me deeper. Ash poured from the sky, blinding me as it swept across the pale stone in filthy white gusts. Heat slammed into me with every turn, dragging at the magic in my bones until each step felt heavier than the last.

Helion was gaining on me. But a part of me smiled with satisfaction that I had outpaced him for this long.

The thread beneath my ribs pulled harder with every frantic step, sharp and insistent, leading me toward the heart of the labyrinth. Towards my memories.

I risked a glance over my shoulder. Helion was so close. His arm reached out, grabbing my-

Something slammed into me, throwing me off balance. I rolled over the hard ground, breath whooshing from my lungs. I pushed up onto my hands, ready to keep running, but paused.

Kaezlyn held Helion down, boot pressing his cheek into the ground.

Selkie appeared behind them, hands raised as if carrying the weight of a starless night. Her pale purple eyes had turned translucent under the muted light as she walked towards her prey. Like twin moons. The hair on my arms stood on end as power thrummed through the air. Kaezlyn threw up her hands, and the earth answered. Vines tore through the cracks between the stones, thick and thorned, writhing toward Helion. They wound around his arms and chest in seconds, wrenching him back and pinning him in place.

I could only stare, horror and fascination twisting together beneath my ribs.