“It was him—Aiden St. Delphi. I’d never forget his name or face. The first time I’d caught a glimpse of him standing in front of the training arena, a ridiculous crush had sprung alive. I’d been fourteen and he seventeen. The fact he was a pure-blood hadn’t mattered whenever I’d spotted him around campus.”

“What is your name?” I asked, voice hoarse.“Alexandria,” she repeated in a soft voice I’d never heard Alex use in real life.“And who am I?”“Aiden.” She smiled, and I flinched. “You are my Master.”

“You’re not dying,” he said.“How do you know?”His eyes latched onto mine. “Because I’d never let that happen.”

“Daemon followed me home after school. Literally. He tailed me in his new Infiniti SUV. My old Camry, with its leaky exhaust and loud muffler, was no match for the speed he wanted to go. I’d brake-checked him several times. He’d blown his horn. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.”

“He wasa jerk. Moody. But there had been brief moments that I’d spent with him—like a nanosecond—when I thought I might have seen the real Daemon. Atleast a better Daemon. And that part made me curious. And the other side, the jerky one, yeah, that part didn’t make me curious.It sort of excited me.”

“...Cromwell informed me I’d only have the keys to my car once I’d earned his trust back. His trust? Like I was the creeptastic person who whipped kids off the street and collected them like figurines?”

“Shit. I’d felt her up, in my sleep.”