When the cries became more frantic, a beast arose inside me. She began to struggle, trying to push me off her. For the briefest second, the monster inside me wanted to pin her harder, draw more firmly.

Sanity returned. Horrified, I heaved myself off of her.

No.

Disgust surged through me, sickening me, and I nearly vomited.

What had I done? What had I nearly done?

I leapt from the bed, putting distance between Carrow and me. Hazy memories flashed through my mind. I’d been partially conscious, but I remembered.

The beast within me had almost risen.

I turned away, unable to look at her with the memories still swirling in my head.

“Grey? Are you all right?”

“I’m—” I cleared my throat, wishing it were as easy to clear my head. “Fine.”

I stalked to the window, past the grand piano that I no longer played, and stared out at the mountains. The Carpathians—my home. Full of bears and wolves and other monsters like myself.

I was better suited to that place.

I heard Carrow climb out of bed, and I drew in a deep breath, forcing myself under control. I turned to her, my gaze going to the bite marks at her neck. The wound was already closing, but her blood gleamed dark red in the moonlight.

“Are you better?” she asked.

I forced my mind to the present, away from the fear of what I had almost done to her.

Drink her to the death.

“Yes. Thank you.” Gratitude welled within me, followed by awe. “You saved me.”

“Anyone would.”

“Hardly.” I shook my head. “And it doesn’t matter if they did. Not all blood can heal me like that.”

“Really?”

“Only yours.”

Shadows crossed her face, followed by fear. The memory of her struggling beneath me surged to the surface, and the queasiness returned. “Did I…force you?” I asked. The idea made me want to throw myself back into the sorcerers’ tower and let them barrage me with killing blows until I was no more.

“No.” She shook her head, eyes wide. “You didn’t. Not until—”

“You started struggling.” I leaned back against the window, nearly lightheaded.

“You stopped right away.”

“I took too much.”

“No…no, that’s not it.” She chewed on her lip. Her eyes were dark as they searched mine. “I didn’t struggle because of what you were doing. I had a vision.”

“A vision? I thought your power didn’t work on me.”

“Normally, it doesn’t. But this…it was so powerful, I was forced to see it.”

Her dark tone worried me. “What did you see, Carrow?”

“We’re Cursed Mates.”

“I’ve heard that.”

“I didn’t know what it means, but now I have an idea.”

“And?” I clenched my fists.

“Sometime in the future, you will drink me to death.”

“I would never.”

“If you won’t, then you will die.”

“Then I die.”

She blinked at me, surprise flickering briefly in her eyes. It was there and gone so quickly that I almost wasn’t sure if I saw it. “You would, wouldn’t you?”

“I’ve lived a long enough life.” I wasn’t keen to die. After centuries of immortality, the idea was almost absurd. But if the alternative was her death, it wasn’t a question.

“You took the killing blow from the sorcerers for me,” she said. “Why?”

“You really can’t guess?”

“Um—”

I shrugged, not keen on elucidating. “Don’t be too concerned with it.”

She looked at me like I was insane. “You tried to sacrifice your life for mine, and I’m not supposed to be concerned with it?”

“We have bigger problems.”

She scowled. “In the immediate future, yes. After that? This is the biggest one, as far as I can see.”

Damned Cursed Mates. At least the name finally made sense. “It won’t happen if we don’t fall for each other.”

I turned back to the window, unable to look at her anymore. My words were ridiculous, and if I’d had to look into her eyes while saying them, I’d never have got them out.

“Right.” Her voice sounded odd, but I couldn’t place it. “Good plan.”

A knock sounded at the door. Miranda and the healer rushed inside.

Miranda pulled up short, her eyes widening. “Devil. You’re…standing.”

I nodded. “Thanks to Carrow.”

Miranda’s gaze flashed to Carrow. “But how? You’re not a healer.”

Carrow shrugged. “I’ve got the touch.”

She didn’t mention the bite, and I was glad. It was personal. As much as I liked Miranda, we didn’t have that kind of relationship.

“Am I not needed?” The old healer frowned, his bushy brows drawing close over his pale green eyes. The white cloak he wore was a relic from an older age. But then, so was he.

“No, but thank you, Doratio.”

The healer nodded and backed out of the room.

Miranda gazed at Carrow and me in confusion, but she swallowed her questions. “Can I bring you anything?”

“Dinner, please.” I looked at Carrow. “Something in particular?”

“Um, no.” She still looked faintly shell-shocked, and I couldn’t blame her.

Miranda disappeared

“There’s more to this Cursed Mate bond,” I said to Carrow. “There must be. But we don’t have time for it now.”

“I agree,” she said. “I like your plan. There’s no reason we should…fall for each other.”

I nodded and tried to keep my expression placid.

I’d spent so many years feeling nothing that it was easy to tell when I was going off the rails. I was well and truly gone over her. No question.

I shoved the thought to the back of my mind.

“For someone immortal, you sure almost die a lot.” She tried to make it a joke, an attempt to change the tone of the room.

It didn’t work, but I played along. “You’re dangerous.”

“True.” Her gaze dropped to my shirt, and I realized that it was blackened and charred from the sorcerer’s spell.

“Let me change clothes.” I strode away from her, desperate for a moment to myself. A moment to gather my wits and return to the coldness that kept me in control.

Carrow

Head reeling, I watched Grey walk toward a closet. As he neared it, he stripped his shirt off over his head and disappeared inside. I got the briefest glimpse of hard muscles and scarred flesh and had to turn away.

Shocked, I stared out the windows at the impossible view.

That vision had been real.

We truly were Cursed Mates. I’d seen no details—just the two scenes and a deep understanding of what was to come.

I thumped my head against the glass. “God, I wish I were a witch.”

The witches had it so good. They created spells and potions and sold them for beer money while partying in their tower. None of this visions-of-the-future shit.

Seeing my own future was just too much.

Especially when it was deadly.

Shake it off, honey.

Cordelia’s voice sounded from down below, and I turned to look. She sat a few feet away in the shadow of the huge piano I hadn’t even noticed. A massive wall of bookshelves sat behind her, stuffed to the brim with books. Another thing I hadn’t noticed.

“How did you get in here?” I asked.

How do I get anywhere? And you need to knock that look off your face. Moaning doesn’t become you.

“Do you know what I saw in my vision? What lies ahead of me?”

No. And I don’t need to. You’ve got real problems staring at you now, so you’ve got to deal with them. Don’t go borrowing trouble.

“Don’t go borrowing trouble.” I stared at her, liking that phrase. “You’re right.”

Of course I’m right.

Deep in my soul, I knew that I’d have to confront the vision I’d had, but not now. I needed to focus. We had twenty-four hours to save Guild City.

“Thanks, Cordelia.”

She nodded. You can owe me a kebab.

“Sure.” I made a shooing motion. “Now, you should scram. We don’t need the Devil knowing you can get into his place.”

She tapped her head with a little claw. Good thinking.

She disappeared, and I pulled out my mobile to call Mac.

My friend picked up on the third ring without bothering with hello. “You find anything good?”

“Yeah. Can you meet?”

“Not yet. Almost got some info, though.”

“Really?”

“Yep. Tracking this one last guy. He’s supposed to get off work in a couple hours, and we can nab him.”

“Shall we meet in the morning, then?” That would give us a day to stop this thing. I’d rather get started right away, but we didn’t have enough info. And I needed some rest. So did Grey. We’d be staggering to the fight at this rate.

“First thing, your place. Sound good?” Mac asked.

“Sounds good. And hey, be safe.”

“Always.”

We hung up, and I turned to see Grey enter the room. He’d put on a clean shirt, and his expression looked less stunned. He’d shown more emotion after that bite than I’d ever seen, and I wanted to get to the bottom of it.

As if he could see what I was thinking, he swiftly changed the subject. “You called Mac?”

“Yes. They’re on the trail of something, which is good, since I only got the words of a spell and nothing else from Mariketta.”

“We still don’t know about the key or how they plan to do it.”

“We should know in the morning if Mac is right.”

He nodded.

A knock sounded at the door again, and Miranda entered with two servers carrying massive trays. They set them on the table in the main living room and disappeared like ghosts.