A low, helpless groan rose from Cassian's throat the second her lips brushed against his. For a moment, she feared the god might reject her as he always did. But, to Miu's surprise and delight, he did the very opposite. Her kiss appeared to have unleashed some kind of feral beast in him. Shadows danced all around them. Again, not one but two visages of her handsome silver-eyed god appeared before Miu. This time, however, instead of disappearing entirely, the second face merged into Cassian's features.

Bloody tails!

What in hell's fire was going on?

She didn't have time to process this anomaly. His silver eyes soon darkened to black. Miu gasped as Cassian's hands shot forth to claim the narrow dip of her waist, hauling her roughly against his chest. He crushed his lips to hers. A part of her was shocked to learn that Cassian didn't kiss like a god who reveled in solitude and spurned the company of women. He kissed like a fallen seraph. A demon lover. A god of the darkest sins and pleasures.

Her head swam with lust and awe. Miu clung to him like a drowning soul adrift at sea. His tongue traced the soft seam between her lips. With a heated whimper, her lips parted as she let him in. Their kiss deepened, intensifying, until Miu grew breathless and lightheaded with want and need. She sucked on his lower lip and, unable to help herself, nipped him lightly with her fangs. Not enough to draw blood but enough to sting in the way of pleasurable pain.

"Harder, little one," he rasped hotly, sounding nothing like his usual self, "I want it rough with you..."

The god's wicked request shocked her senses. The depth of his desire coursed through Miu's veins like a streak of lightning. She soaked it all in with a soft, pleased whimper. Her entire being was practically overflowing with power.

Pulling back, Miu felt a bit overwhelmed as she breathed out, "My lord?"

"Call me by my name," Cassian demanded. One of his hands drifted up to her breast, palming the generous mound as his thumb drew the most distracting and delicious circles around her hardening nipple.

She whisper-moaned, "Cass... ian?"

"That is more like it," he praised in low, dark tones.

"What has gotten into you? I am not complaining, but, I admit, I am a little taken aback..."

Gone was the silver in his gaze.

"Nothing has gotten into me," the now obsidian-eyed god growled. "In fact, I should thank you."

Again, feeling a bit out of sorts, Miu blinked several times. "Thank me? For what?"

The corner of his mouth twisted up. "You have made me feel more like myself than ever."

Miu managed to push through her cloud of lust to study him. Closely. There was a devilish spark in his eyes and wickedness to the curve of his lips that felt decidedly out of place. Suspicion spiked in her. Something wasn't right here. Something about him didn't feel right. The Cassian she knew would never say such things or touch her in such a bold manner.

Her blue eyes narrowed as she pushed away from him. "Who... are you? You are not Cassian."

"Oh, but I am," not-Cassian countered in a husky, taunting manner, "a part of him, anyway. The part he hides away from the rest of the world."

What was he talking about?

Was he playing a trick on her?

A ruse of sorts?

Miu decided to call his bluff. With a determined set of the jaw, her hand drifted down the solid expanse of his chest, down the rippled edges of his stomach, towards the hard bulge near his crotch. Miu's clawed fingers wrapped around his sizable length. Over his robes, she gave his shaft a few teasing tugs and trailed a sharp, pointed, black-tipped nail from the base to his tip. He shuddered and groaned beneath her touch. Smiling, Miu rose on her toes and cooed in his ear, "If you really are Cassian, then take me. Right here. Right now. I dare you."

This was a test. Cassian would never fuck her under these circumstances. She waited to see what this imposter might do.

Without a word or a warning, he hoisted her up over his shoulders. Not-Cassian began carrying her out of the atrium.

Giving only a half-hearted struggle, Miu yelped out a protest, "Where are we going?"

"To bed," came his immediate reply.

"What?" she gasped.

Moments ago, Miu would've been elated to hear Cassian utter these two naughty words to her. But there was no delight to be felt anymore. Not now. Not when he was acting so unlike himself.

With long, unceasing strides, they passed through through an arched doorway. Not-Cassian held her in a most undignified manner as they re-entered the palace. As the brute ferried her like a sack of potatoes down winding corridor after winding corridor, he asked with a touch of amusement, "Why do you sound so shocked? It is what you asked me to do."

Wriggling about on top of him, she tried to get free to no avail. Miu released a resigned but indignant scoff, "I did not mean it. I only made the suggestion to see how you might react."

"Is that so?"

"I wanted to see if you would behave as Cassian would behave."

"And what conclusion have you drawn about my behavior?" he inquired with a wry expression, holding on to her even tighter.

The fact that he had emphasized the word "my" didn't escape her notice. Not-Cassian was still insisting that he was, indeed, Cassian.

"I have concluded that you are a fraud," Miu answered sharply. "Tell me, what have you done with the real Cassian?"

He looked at her as though she might be daft. "I am Cassian."

"Do not lie to me!"

He smirked. "I swear on all the stars of Elysium—I am not lying to you."

All the stars of Elysium—her arse!

With a grunt, she tried to twist away from him once more. "Wipe that smirk off your face and release me at once."

"No."

Not-Cassian's arm tightened even more around her waist. His hold on her felt like an unbreakable vice.

Damn his god-like strength!

Miu surrendered again for the time being and grumbled, "No? That is rich. Coming from you. You could not wait to get rid of me during our previous encounters."

Side-stepping her accusation, he chose to deflect with an accusation of his own, "You were so quick to kiss me earlier. Why the sudden change of heart?"

"I—"

Before she could fire back a snippy remark, they arrived back inside his private sleeping quarters. The heavy wooden doors slammed shut as he locked both of them with a mystical wave of his hand. Then, crossing the room, Not-Cassian dumped Miu most unceremoniously atop the bed. The mattress sank beneath his weight as he climbed over her, caging her smaller form beneath his larger frame.

Miu's eyes narrowed as she glared up at him. Save for his devil-black eyes, Not-Cassian looked exactly like Cassian. The dark hair. The perfectly formed facial features. The hard, chiseled masculine frame of his body. Everything about him was utterly beautiful in an untouchable, ethereal way.

Her ears twitched. His heartbeat and pulse sounded like Cassian's strong, steady heartbeat and pulse.

Her nostrils flared. He even smelled like Cassian. Like sheer, untapped power. A power so ancient and potent that Miu grew tempted to let him have his way with her just to consume some of it for herself.

Much to her chagrin, she couldn't detect any foul play or demonic presence on his person. There was really nothing amiss except for the fact that this god, who had previously wanted nothing to do with her, now appeared to be very interested in fucking her.

But she refused to give in to him. She would remain loyal to her silver-eyed water god. She just needed to find a way to undermine this pretender and bring back her beloved.

Right as Miu was about to push him away, a familiar tug in her chest stopped her. Not-Cassian's smirk widened into a wicked, face-wide grin as though he had everything to do with this sudden pull between them. Her soul still felt very much bound to this dark-eyed being who claimed to be Cassian. His soul was made of the same dark, endless depths as the Cassian she had always known and loved and coveted.

Miu's eyelids fluttered as pure wickedness darkened his expression. A wayward hand wandered between her thighs, and, with it, a conflicting wave of confusion and heat wracked her senses.

"Now," he purred, soft and low, with his fingertips brushing lightly against her sex, "do you believe me, little one?"