Another burst of fire leaped into the hunter’s eyes. “I’m not leaving you like this.” A muscle ticked in the corner of his jaw. “We’ll catch him but not today.”

If I were standing, I would have stomped my foot, but then a rush of dizziness swept through me. Blinking, I realized this sofa looked and felt very differently from the couch I’d sat on before. Trying to clear my head, I peered around, and with wild-eyed shock I realized that I wasn’t in his living room in Ontario. This was somewhere else. Somewhere new.

The room we were in was bigger and grander with mountainous views through the windows. But it had the feel of a cabin. Rustic wood railings graced a stairway that led to a large second-floor hallway. Oak floorboards ran the length of the room beneath my toes. A large stone fireplace sat cold and unused to my left. And the windows . . . Gods, so many windows. They rose to the top of a vaulted ceiling and captured the beauty of the wilderness outside.

Snowcapped mountains in the distance butted against an endless valley. Pine trees towered at the base of those mountains, and the rugged beauty was so enchanting that for a moment all I could do was blink, and then blink again as I stared at the view.

Where am I?

I sputtered, my head reeling. Everything had all happened so fast. It probably hadn’t even been thirty minutes since I’d been enjoying a cup of coffee on the hunter’s porch in Ontario, but now, I was in an unknown location. Jakub had tried to abduct me again. Numerous cuts, scrapes, and bruises covered my body, and I had freakin’ electric blue handcuffs around my wrists with no damn key.

“I need to get those off you.” Kaillen turned me slightly, being careful not to touch where my skin was torn as he assessed the cuffs. His fingers probed them, then he growled in angry frustration when they zapped him too. “You’re going to have to use your forbidden magic on me. I’m not strong enough to break these on my own. It’s going to be like in the club. You have to enhance my power so I can shatter them with sheer force.”

My head lolled again. Dammit, I was so out of it. I wondered if these cuffs depleted more than just my power. Or perhaps I had an old-fashioned concussion since I’d been thrown like a bouncy ball so many times onto pavement. Who knew. All I knew was that everything hurt, and the world was beginning to grow fuzzy.

Trying to snap myself into coherency, I managed to shake my head. “I can’t. My magic’s too depleted, and these cuffs aren’t like the ones they had on you. They’re stronger. Better. It’s amazing I was able to break through their binding and gag spells at all.”

A low snarl came from the hunter that sounded a bit unhinged. Then there was silence, as if he were thinking. Or trying to.

“Wait here.” The couch dipped when he stood.

“Well, it’s not like I could really go anywhere,” I drawled as a wave of dizziness swept through me.

He gave a small smile that didn’t reach those crazed-looking eyes as he towered over me. Days’ worth of beard still graced his cheeks. He’d been sporting that look for nearly a week now.

He pulled out his yellow crystal, and before I could blink, he’d created a portal and jumped through it.

“Kaillen?” I called to the empty room. Silence surrounded me, the only sound the soft ticking of a clock coming from somewhere in the house.

A minute passed, and I tried to sit more upright, realizing that even though nobody was harming me here, I was anything but okay. I was a freakin’ invalid with these cuffs on. I couldn’t even go to the bathroom like this.

But before I could contemplate that very embarrassing detail, another yellow portal appeared, and the hunter jumped back through it, reappearing in the living room.

My eyes widened at the huge ax in his hands. I recognized it. It’d been in his closet of weapons in his man cave back in Portland. It was pure black, huge, and deadly looking. Its sheer presence pulled at me, beckoning me to caress it and use it.

“What is that?” I managed.

“A weapon from the underworld. It’s not supposed to be released from hell, and only demons can touch it, so I’d advise you to keep your distance.”

“Do I want to know how you came to possess it?”

“Probably not.”

“What are you going to do with it?”

“Break those cuffs. I think the ax’s power will be strong enough to do it, but it may take a toll on you.”

“Meaning what?” My eyes widened as he drew nearer. Those manic-looking flames still filled his irises, and I knew the hunter was still feeling a bit crazed and perhaps wasn’t of sound mind right now.

I got awkwardly to my feet, and he assessed the cuffs, testing which angle to use the ax. “You may pass out, but you’ll be okay eventually. I think.”

“Right.” That didn’t sound promising. “Do we do this here?” I raised my arms behind me, positioning my wrists away from my body.

He guided me to the center of the room, which gave him more space to move. “Keep your arms raised, just like that. Don’t move.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “Please don’t miss. I don’t really want to lose an arm . . . or a leg. No offense, but I have no idea how good your hand-eye coordination is.”

I couldn’t be sure, but I thought his lips twitched. “I won’t.”

I didn’t question his actions or the wisdom of his decision further. It felt as if my entire body was going numb, and my mind was shutting down. Too much. Too much. Too much was happening.

All I could do in that moment was function on autopilot. I still had my eyes closed when the swing of the giant ax breezed against my back along my skin.

And then a huge clang of power sliced through the air, like an enormous void had been ripped through the cosmos as it connected with the cuffs’ chains.

An explosion of crackling vibrant power blazed through the room, heating my wrists right before the cuffs shattered. They disintegrated in a thousand blazing sparks, and then, I was free.

I sagged forward, my arms screaming in agony again at the sudden jolt, but at least I could move again. Shaking my hands, I tried to dispel that lingering zapping feeling.

Another wave of dizziness swept through me, but I tried to hold on, tried to fight it when my vision grew dark, but my head was so fuzzy.

Too much.

Too much.

Too much.

Gritting my teeth, I made one last attempt to stay conscious, desperately trying to escape the power of the ax and the lingering magic from the cuffs. But I was no match for the strength of the underworld.

“Tala?” Kaillen lunged for me.

I fell forward just as my vision went dark.

∞     ∞     ∞

I woke to the feel of warm blankets cocooning me and the sound of a crackling fire. My eyes peeled open. Moonlight blazed through a window, bathing the room I slept in with silvery light.

I fixed on that glowing orb hanging in the sky. The waxing gibbous moon shone brightly, just a day away from the full moon in the lunar cycle. A tug registered in my chest, snagging all of my attention to that beautiful ball of pearly light.

I should go to it. Out in the field. Open my arms. Bask in its light. I should follow the moon and—

“Tala, are you awake?” The soft question came from my side.

I snapped my attention away from the moon. My gaze landed on the hunter who sat on the other side of the bed, his back against the headboard, his long body spread out across the mattress. He was fully dressed and sat on top of the covers, as though he hadn’t slept at all even though it was nighttime. That wild look was still in his eyes, those irises all flames and molten gold.

“Kaillen?” I asked, confusion strumming through me.

He pushed off the bed, and in a blur was kneeling on the floor at my side, only a foot away from me. A wild look covered his face, his expression so fierce that I wondered again how rational he was at the moment.