But Devina was adamant. “He’ll come.”

  “We can’t hide her forever.”

  I looked at my Sisters. What were they talking about? Hide who? And from whom? Did they think the music could drown out their thoughts? Or did they think they’d blocked them off from me, like they were doing more and more often?

  “Come on, Gemma!” Anya encouraged me. “Come dance! It’s fun!”

  I made my way through the crowd to her, dragging Devina behind me. She grumbled but then saw a man she liked and started coming on to him. We went wild in the crowd, flirting, our pheromones drawing all the males to us like bees to nectar. No one could resist our dark allure.

  “Hey, Gemma, check out that guy over there.” Devina pointed to a man who was dancing with his girlfriend but couldn’t take his eyes off me. I probed his mind. She wasn’t his girlfriend. She was a professional dancer, and this was his bachelor party. The next day he was getting married, but just then it was me he wanted. A lecher. As my final prey I couldn’t ask for anything better than a cheater.

  “The honor is yours,” Devina said.

  I wafted my pheromones over to him, inducing him to come closer, then danced with him, using my provocative movements to turn him wild with desire. Completely bewitched by me, he was ready and willing to cheat on his fiancée. He moved his lips toward mine but I dodged them and pushed him to his knees in front of me. He looked up at me ecstatically as I danced around him. Taking off his shirt, he reached out and put his hand on my behind, but Devina cracked her whip and trapped his wrist in it. Though he shouted from the pain, he was instantly excited when Devina joined me in my sexy dance. “Nice costumes,” he told us both, trying to pull me against him.

  Suddenly someone rushed him and dragged him away from me. The crowd around us pulled back as the man was brutally smashed against the wall. I sensed at once it was a Child of Eve. “By Lilith! What the—” I stopped mid-sentence when the Subterranean turned and his silvery gray eyes locked onto mine, burning into them.

  “At last I’ve found you.” His voice filled my head.

  “You again,” I murmured to myself. It was the young man from the forest.

  “Let’s get out of here!” Devina ordered, but he strode over to her and grabbed her by the neck.

  “You’re not going anywhere,” he threatened.

  “Care to bet?” Devina slipped free from his grasp and materialized beside me and Anya.

  “Anya, no!” an unknown female voice shouted in our minds. I spun around and met her incredibly green eyes. By Lilith, it was a Witch!

  A second later we disappeared.

  “What’s going on?” I demanded when we materialized at the Castle.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Devina retorted icily as Anya went to tell Sophìa we’d returned.

  “Maybe if you stopped blocking off your mind you’d be able to read mine. That woman was a Witch! One of us! I felt the Bond.” Finally I remembered—I’d seen her in the forest too, but my hostility toward the Subterranean had distracted me and I hadn’t given her another thought.

  “There is no Bond. In any case, I’m not allowed to talk about it.”

  “Fine. That means I’ll ask Sophìa. At least tell me why we ran away. I don’t understand—we’ve faced lots of Subterraneans before.”

  “He’s different. He’s not just any ordinary Subterranean. He’s dangerous.”

  “Even better, then. Next time I want to fight him.”

  “No! You need to stay away from him.”

  “Why? Didn’t you say Anya was too protective?”

  “He’s mine,” she admitted. “I’ve been after him for centuries but he’s never bent to my will. It’s only a matter of time, though.”

  “He wants to kill you. I read it in his mind.”

  “I know. He’s the most ferocious Subterranean I’ve ever encountered. Sexy and ruthless—that’s why I want him. He’s been hunting me down to kill me, and he’ll try to kill you too. He has the power to creep into your mind, but you mustn’t let him in. He’ll try to convince you he’s ready and willing to be claimed, that he worships you, and a whole bunch of other lies, but you mustn’t listen to him. It’s a trick. The minute you lower your defenses he’ll attack and kill you. If we ever run into him again don’t let him into your mind. It’s his greatest power.” Devina took my hands and looked me in the eye. “Do you trust me?”

  I smiled. “Of course. More than anyone else in the world.”

  FIRST REAPING

  “Welcome back,” Sophìa said when we arrived. “Did you have a good Reaping?”

  “See for yourself,” I replied, a smug smile on my lips. I summoned my Dakor, who crawled out of my wrist and dropped to the floor, slithering over to the symbol of the Witches carved in red in the black floor. Anya and Devina’s Dakor followed him.

  “Come to me!” the Empress exclaimed, raising her arms in her elegant black gown. The serpents opened their jaws wide and three swarms of black butterflies flew out, merging into a single vortex like a dark tornado. Sophìa’s laughter filled the hall as the myriad of Souls whirled about. “Fly, my little butterflies! This is your new realm.”

  The butterflies danced before the Empress. She clapped her hands and the Souls encircled her before flying up and disappearing through the opening in the ceiling. Finally she looked at me. “Excellent work. I could not be prouder. Especially of you, Naiad.” I bowed to her, grateful, and looked her in the eye again. “Now tell me: did the Reaping meet your expectations?”

  “It far exceeded them,” I told her. My Dakor had quenched his thirst. The Souls had given him strength and I felt invincible.

  “Good. Very good. Then tell me, what is it that troubles you?”

  Though I’d closed off my mind, the Empress had detected my emotions. “Not what, but who. Tell me about Ginevra.” Her name had come to my mind when her green eyes met mine; my soul had recognized the Bond. Sophìa cast a questioning glance at Anya and Devina. Or maybe it was one of reproach, because the two stepped back and went away, leaving me alone with her. “You told me my Sisters were dead! I’m confused, because I just ran into one of them.”

  Sophìa didn’t reply, but instead fixed me with a guilty look. “Come,” she finally said. “Let us find a quieter place to speak.” She descended the steps and stood right in front of me, on the symbol. The floor trembled slightly and rose like an elevator. I looked up with surprise as the opening in the ceiling grew closer. We emerged into a well made of carbonado and the platform came to a halt. I looked around in wonder. It was the most luminous place I’d ever seen in the Castle—maybe in my entire life.

  “Where are we?” I asked in astonishment.

  Sophìa smiled. “Welcome to my garden.” Part of the low wall surrounding us crumbled away to let us out. I took a few steps and turned back to look at it.

  “It is the Well of Souls,” Sophìa said as the carbonado sealed up again. “It is here that the Souls of all the Damned in the Castle converge. All my beloved butterflies.” She raised her arms and let them flutter around her. Butterflies were everywhere—on the walls, on the huge glass ceiling, and most of all . . . “Come. I shall show them to you,” she said, noticing my interest. Spread out in front of us was an incredible field of Devil’s Stramonium. I’d never seen so much of it before. Its presence was almost frightening, as though it was alive. “You are fortunate. Few have seen my beloved crop of Devil’s Stramonium.” Sophìa plucked one of the blossoms and held it out to me. It was black and regal, just like her.

  “The Witches’ flower,” I murmured. I inhaled its scent and instantly felt intoxicated. My Dakor heard the call and materialized from my skin. He too sniffed it and then gulped it down.

  Laughing, Sophìa plucked a black butterfly from a flower and held it up near her eyes. “And you, were you a bad boy, my little Lecher?” It flapped its wings and fluttered away as the Empress watched it.

  “This is where the Sorting of Souls is done,” I said. It wasn’t a question. My Sisters had told me about Sophìa’s garden. I knew she often spent time there, entrusting command of the Castle to Devina, her Specter. She spoke to her Souls, cultivated Devil’s Stramonium, and sorted the Damned before casting them out into Hell, where they would return to their human forms.

  “Precisely,” Sophìa said, confirming my thoughts. “But at times I also come here to relax. It is heavenly, is it not?” She laughed and I agreed.

  Sophìa knew how to be eccentric, especially when it came to her butterflies, but I was there for another reason. I wanted an explanation. “You told me they were dead,” I repeated, point-blank.

  She stopped and turned her back to me. “To me they are,” she replied, her voice once again serious.

  “Tell me more.”

  “Ginevra left us.”

  I frowned. I would never have expected an answer like that. “How is that possible? It’s madness.”

  “And yet it happened. She betrayed our trust and I banished her.” It seemed impossible to me that a Sister could forswear the Bond like that. Sophìa was everything to us. “Not to her. When she left, my heart broke.”

  I snorted. “What heart? Your heart is made of ice.”

  “But to me, all of you are fire—the only thing that can melt my heart. You Sisters are everything to me.”

  “As you are to us.” She was right. I knew how much she cared about us all. I shouldn’t have been so unkind.

  Sophìa nodded. “No other interesting encounters apart from Ginevra during your Reaping?” she suddenly asked, studying me closely.

  What did she mean? “No . . .” I thought it over. “I don’t think so.”

  “No other powerful emotion apart from your Bond with her?”

  “Of course, as always, the seduction and Temptation and then the Reaping all went straight to my head.”

  “Excellent.”

  “What about the other Sister?” I said, switching to a subject that interested me more. “You said we lost two of them. Did the other one abandon us too?” The idea still seemed absurd.

  “No. Tamaya was slain before she transformed. It was her husband who sacrificed her after he became a Subterranean. One cannot trust the Children of Eve. They are uncontrollable.”

  “What happened to him?”

  “I dealt with him myself. Now that you have had the answers you sought, I wish to give you a gift.”

  “Being able to live in your kingdom is already a tremendous gift,” I replied on impulse. Sophìa had been saddened by our conversation and I couldn’t bear it.

  “Do you mean you would refuse the gift I wish to give you?”

  “I didn’t mean that. I would never turn down a gift from you.”

  She smiled. “Very well. Come.”

  I followed her down a narrow hallway. The light had returned to normal—it was dimmer and gloomier than it had been in the field of Devil’s Stramonium. The butterflies followed us, fluttering everywhere. Lining the walls were huge glass display cases, full of mounted butterflies. Only then did I notice that beneath each of them was a small, engraved carbonado plaque. I stopped to study them and Sophìa came back to join me, a smile on her lips. “It is my private collection . . . A little whim of mine. Do you like it?” There were butterflies big and small. All of them were black. I read a few of the names: Caligula. Maximilien Robespierre. Joseph Stalin. Nero. Heinrich Himmler. “These are—”

  “My pride and joy. They are the foulest of the Damned that humanity has ever encountered, the most ferocious, most heartless mortals who ever existed on Earth. My masterpieces, if you prefer. They are those with whom I established a fruitful alliance. Some were even excellent lovers. They spread panic, terror, and death. They made people lose their faith. Under their rule, my kingdom flourished. Until, that is, their time came and they returned to me. Adding a new piece to my collection is always a momentous occasion. When it happens, I preside over an Opalion as queen in honor of my victory.”

  “Wow,” I murmured. I’d participated in various Games in the Circle, but none of them had ever been held in Sophìa’s honor. Maybe that was why I’d never seen her Champion in action. The thought of him stirred something inside me—the desire to watch him do battle.

  “You have met Zakharìa,” Sophìa said, sensing my interest.

  I’d lost control of my thoughts. “I’m sorry, my lady.”

  “Do not be sorry. You know the rules of the Sisterhood: upon request, a Subterranean claimed by a Sister may be loaned to another who desires him.”

  “But . . . I thought it didn’t count for Champions, much less yours. Devina said—”

  “Indeed, that is true, but I could make an exception for you if you wish.”

  I stared at her, surprised. Was the Empress granting me her Champion? I couldn’t imagine a greater honor. “Thank you, my lady, but for the moment I’d like to focus on Souls. Reaping is my vocation. I can’t stop thinking about it. When can I go again?”

  Sophìa burst into a laugh that brimmed with pride. “Soon, my black butterfly.” She stopped beside a small altar and picked something up. “It is tradition for each Witch to receive the sacred token after her first Reaping. And you have proven yourself worthy to wear it.” She opened her palm.

  My eyes widened. In her hand was the ancient medallion I’d seen my Sisters wear: the Dreide.

  THE ILLUSION OF HAVING YOU NEAR

  “All this time waiting for a sign from Gemma and when I finally find her I let her slip through my fingers!”

  “Calm down, Evan,” said Simon. “You’ll have another chance.”

  “I shouldn’t have blown this one!” I snapped.

  “Don’t shout or you’ll wake Liam. He was crying all night long.”

  “You’re right. Sorry.”

  Simon had stayed with him while Ginevra and I went looking for Gemma. Tracking her down had been hard even for her, and she could rely on the Bond. Gemma’s power was strong—darkness shrouded her like a mantle. We had to be patient, wait for an opening. Without Ginevra I never would have managed. My connection to Gemma had been broken because her soul had been corrupted.

  “They’re ready.” Ginevra appeared with an arsenal of weapons. She dropped them on the table and looked at me. “We’ll see if he can catch a bullet in mid-air too.”

  I picked up the projectile and studied it. Inside it was venom from her Dakor. “Nice work. It’s ingenious.”

  “It was easy, once I worked out the mechanism.”

  When we were still together, Gemma had told me about how they’d used weapons Ginevra designed to defend themselves from Desdemona, the Angel of Death sent in by the Màsala to kill her. They were dangerous for us and therefore effective against our enemies.

  Ginevra strapped a holster to her thigh. Simon and I had already put on our shoulder holsters. “There are two guns each, plus this.” Ginevra pulled out a Kalashnikov. “I’ll keep this, if you don’t mind. I have a score to settle with that Hunter.”

  “Be our guest.”

  “Careful with that thing,” she warned, alluding to the bullet in my fingers.

  “What, it might explode in my hand?” I joked.

  “You never know. Your nerves haven’t been reliable lately, and we need you alive.” Ginevra was talking about my incident with the guy Gemma had been seducing at the party. I hadn’t been able to help myself. When I’d seen his hands on her I’d lost my head and had come close to killing him. I was fierce, frustrated, and willing to kill to get her back.

  I slid the cartridge into one of the guns and loaded it. “With these, the bastard doesn’t stand a chance.”

  “Guess who’s back,” Ginevra suddenly said.

  “He’s here? Where?” Simon and I turned to look at her, gripping our weapons.

  She was concentrating, listening. “Not him. It’s Gemma. She’s on Earth.”

  Emotions filled my heart: joy, fear . . . urgency. I holstered my weapons, staring at Ginevra. “What are we waiting for, then? Take me to her,” I said resolutely.

  “Good luck,” Simon murmured.

  Ginevra took my hand and together we dematerialized. Gemma’s eyes were the first thing I saw, like two magnets that drew me to them the second I appeared. She, in contrast, glared at me with hatred, annoyed by my presence. It was like being shot in the chest with a poisoned bullet. In front of her was a newly born Soul, his dead body lying next to them.

  The sight of Gemma seducing another man threatened to send me out of control again. I couldn’t stand it. Fighting the instinct to shoot him, I grabbed the guy by the arm and helped him cross over, showing him the way.

  “How dare you?” Gemma hissed. “He was already mine.”

  “Don’t make me regret not killing him,” I shot back threateningly.

  She raised her arm to strike me but I blocked her wrist. We stared at each other for a long moment. I didn’t know what was worse: the fact that she didn’t remember me or the hostility I saw in her eyes.

  Devina attacked me from behind and I was forced to defend myself.

  “Gin, don’t let Gemma get away!” I shouted, struggling with the redhead. I shoved her against the wall and pinned her there. She sneered at me as her Dakor emerged to challenge me. I tightened my grip, not even afraid of the thing. “I’ll take care of this Witch.”

  “I know some fun games you could entertain me with,” she whispered, touching her lips to my neck.

  “You just don’t give up, do you? What’s wrong with you?”

  “Sooner or later I’m going to claim you.”

  “Or maybe somebody else will,” I said to provoke her. Her eyes burned with hatred. I’d never given in to Devina, but Gemma had a power over me Devina would never have.

  “It wouldn’t be a good idea for you to come back to us in Hell,” she hissed, regaining her confidence.

  “You’re right. I’d better bring her back here to me.”

  Devina smiled and broke loose, attacking me again. “You’ll never achieve that goal!”

  “Then I’ll die trying,” I snarled, counterattacking.