War of Fire and Fury

Orion shatters Selena's amnesia with her own worst memories

Selena wakes shackled in a dungeon, her identity erased by an enemy's memory magic.

Orion shatters Selena's amnesia with her own worst memories

Selena wakes shackled in a dungeon, her identity erased by an enemy's memory magic. Orion Nightbane, the Unseelie King, forces her to relive three traumatic memories on loop: her mate Draven's wings whipped raw, her parents' throats slit by Empress Jessina, and Draven staring at her with manufactured hatred. Hundreds of repetitions over twelve hours crack something open—grief so devastating it shatters the amnesia like dynamite through glass. She screams Draven's name. Her memories flood back. When Orion frees her chains, she collapses on the stone floor, drowning in grief. He provides a condemned prisoner, knowing what she needs. Selena slams emotion after emotion into the man's chest, chasing the euphoric pleasure her magic produces when she creates feelings from nothing. She cannot stop. The prisoner's heart gives out. Her addiction has begun.

False intelligence lures them onto melted iron and into chains

Learning that the Icehearts want the Gold Clan's shield magic to destroy the Unseelie Court's wards, Selena's group races to the Silver Clan's ruined homeland where a pocket reality supposedly hides the mythical clan. Draven flies them on his back while allies scatter to recruit other dragon clans. But the intelligence was planted. Bane and Jessina arrive with silver dragons and Kander von Graf, whose memory-wipe magic can erase people permanently. Draven kills Kander by ripping out the green dragon's throat—eliminating their deadliest weapon. But Jessina pushes them onto a massive pool of melted iron hidden beneath ash, draining everyone's magic instantly. Iron collars snap shut. Draven cannot attack because Jessina holds a knife to Selena's throat, and there is nothing the Shadow of Death won't sacrifice to keep her alive.

Jessina carves Orion's punishment into his face forever

Orion pretends to surrender, kneeling before Jessina mid-sentence—then drives a hidden knife at her heart. The blade stops a hair's breadth away, blocked by a flash of ice. Bane collars him with iron, and Jessina demands a permanent lesson. She places her blade against his forehead and drags it down through his left eye. When the cut alone fails to satisfy, she carves the eye from its socket, encases it in ice, and grinds it to dust under her heel. Orion screams. On the iron floor, Isera screams too—so hard her voice breaks. Grey, Orion's portal-maker, and Hana, his pocket-reality-opener, surrender to stop the torture. Bane drags Selena through a portal while Draven bellows her name from beyond reach. The portal closes. They are prisoners now, separated from the only person who could save them.