whom fate deemed insignificant, could sense me when no other could. She was my equal in every way.
Yet, she hated me.
I smiled cruelly and stepped out of the shadows.
13
“I told you I’d find you,” a voice said.
Ice ran through my veins.
He was here.
A dry, humorless chuckle slid from my lips. Of course he was here. This was my nightmare, after all. My price that I paid for the unholy magic that I allowed to ravage my body.
“You’re nothing but a dream. A figment of my imagination,” I said, turning around. The words dried up on my tongue when I looked at Ronan. He’d seated himself on a chair, ornate enough to be nothing less than a throne. His legs were crossed, ankle resting on top of his thigh. He leaned back, appraising me.
“Is that so?” he asked, running one of his hands over his stubbled jaw.
I didn’t like his tone, or what it implied.
“Yes,” I answered, and it sounded stronger than I felt. A hint of doubt wormed its way through me at the knowing tone he used. It shouldn’t have. I shouldn’t have thought twice because demons were liars, and this was my psyche . . .
But something made me consider it.
I didn’t like the implications.
Ronan smiled, and it was incredibly cold and cruel, but also amused. There was a challenge in his steel-colored eyes. A purpose in his calloused hands.
He uncrossed his leg and leaned forward to stand. The throne disappeared behind him as he strode forward to stop before me.
“Then you won’t mind if I do this—” He reached for me, his fingers brushing a strand of blonde hair away. They trailed down my face, around the curve of my cheek, and came to grip my chin. I flinched when he tilted my face up. He didn’t seem that bothered by my reaction.
“Actually,” I bit out, despite his grip. “I do.” I turned my face away, and he let me.
He let me.
I cursed. Because that only aided those suspicions that this wasn’t a dream.
At least not completely.
“The magic exacts this price on you because you are unbalanced. Divided. The consequences will only get worse,” Ronan started.
“You know this how?”
“I have seen your past.”
“My past is not my future,” I replied, stepping away.
“No,” he agreed. “Your future will be worse because you are not human, Piper. You think you know things, but if you truly understood, you would not continue to run from me. I can be your salvation, but you will be our damnation if you do not let me.”
My lips parted. He’d have shocked me less if he’d slapped me.
“If you know so much, then you’d know better than to chase. You’d know that whatever fascination you have with me is hopeless. I’m not your atma. I’m not your anything.” I spat the words at him, but Ronan was unperturbed.
“That is where you are wrong,” he said softly. “Your prejudice blinds you, and I can understand it—to an extent. After what happened to you . . . I can be a patient man because you are everything. Or you will be. If I have to chase you for a thousand years, I will. The magic does not lie. People do. And you, Piper”—he stepped forward once more, crowding my space—“you’re the biggest liar of them all.”
I shuddered because deep down, I knew.
He was telling the truth.
Ronan grinned like he knew it too.
“I’ll be watching, Atma.”
He stepped away.
“Wait,” I bit out harshly. I hated this. I didn’t want to do it, but I had to know.
Ronan paused. He lifted one dark eyebrow in silent question.
“If you are not one of my nightmares, then how are you here?”
His jaw tightened, and then he confirmed my worst suspicions.
“The blood-exchange. I took a piece of you, and you took a piece of me.”
Then, just like the walls and the people and the floor before him, he disappeared.
I blinked, turning in circles, but Ronan was gone.
Not for good, though. Oh no. This wasn’t over.
I had a feeling it was just getting started.
The first thing I registered as the crash wore off was the way sleep clung to me like a fog, trying to pull me under. I didn’t fight it. Instead, I lay there, letting it pass through me as I slowly inched toward the surface.
It was only when cool fingers brushed over my forehead that I was able to open my eyes.
The light was muted. Dim. My skin felt hot and aching, like the remnants of a fever that had