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Ice filled my chest.

The bats were behind Rose’s attack. They’d disguised what they were, but it was them. I was sure of it. For some reason, the king of the bats had ordered his people to bury her alive.

Why? What the fuck was going on here? And what did Vesa have to do with all of this?

It was obvious Kelley had nothing more for me. So I threw up my block and walked out of the room, out of the restaurant, and tried to call Rose again. Still nothing.

I called Mags while I got into my car.

“Is Rose with you?”

There was a pause. “I assumed she was with you.”

“No. She was asleep when I left.” I could hear Mags running through the house, the sound of doors banging open, of her calling for Rose.

“She’s not fucking here, Ronan. Oh goddess, she’s not here.”

I sped out of the parking lot.

They’d gotten to her.

Somehow, they’d gotten to her.

* * *

Rose

An hour had passed, and I had no idea what was going to happen when the “moon was at its highest,” but considering my welcome to the colony, I knew without a doubt I wasn’t going to like it.

I wanted to ask the male standing outside my cell what he got out of this. But I was still bound and gagged. They definitely overestimated my magical skills. I had a few tricks up my sleeve but nothing that would get me out of this cell.

The males Vesa had brought with him had dumped me here, and one had stayed to guard me while the other had left with Vesa. These guys appeared to be loyal to him for some reason. He had to have offered them something substantial. I’d only spent a handful of hours with my father and already knew he wasn’t the type of male to instill loyalty in others. No, he was the kind of male who would use his own flesh and blood to increase his power and standing.

I’d finally calmed enough to think somewhat clearly and to gain control over my own body. What I needed was to bring on a vision. Any hint of what was to come would be immensely helpful about now or possibly utterly horrifying. Either way, forewarned is forearmed, right?

But, until now, I hadn’t been able to get my fangs to slide down, which wasn’t surprising considering how vulnerable a blood drinker was when they fed. I wasn’t safe, and with my magic still depleted but rebuilding slowly, my subconscious knew it, causing my body to rebel at the idea. It helped that my fear had shifted to anger. It wasn’t easy with the gag, but I managed to sink one of my sharp, pointed fangs into my lower lip, and as soon as I tasted blood, I focused on the polished steel blade tucked in my guard’s belt, the only shiny thing in the room.

I looked deep into the blade, and my pulse throbbed through my head, my hands growing clammy. I didn’t know if it would work, but I tried to guide the vision, repeating in my head what I wanted to see.

The blade vanished as the vision hit me.

Flames. They surrounded me, flicking up high, licking at my skin, burning my flesh. Kefir stood to the side, head tilted back, lips moving rapidly. An effigy stood on an altar. It looked familiar. I’d seen something like it before, hadn’t I?

Yes, I’d dreamed of this room, the darkness, the flames.

Something moved in the flames, something big.

It roared and came for me.

A cry yanked me from the vision.

Was that my scream? Panting, I blinked several times to clear my sight. The tall male, Daire, crouched over my guard, and the male wasn’t moving. I tried to reconcile what I was looking at, my mind still fuzzy from the vision.

“Where are the fucking keys?” Daire growled out as he searched the dead guard’s clothing. He looked up at me. “Did he have them?”

What the hell was going on?

He moved to the bars and motioned me forward. “Let me take off the gag.”