“It’s time for the first dance.” Kieran puts his hand out to Raven. “My love?”She takes it with a smile, and they leave.Candace nudges me. “Do you think we’re supposed to dance too?”“With you?” I scoff. “If Kieran wants me to dance, he’d better let me pick my own partner.”Candace sighs. “Always
EstrellaTess laughs and pats my arm. “Now, you’ve shown everyone the real abilities of Sundrop.”“The real abilities to stumble all over each other?” I smile.“Excuse me,” someone says behind me.I don’t know who I think I’m kidding. I recognize Anwen’s voice instantly, and even if I didn’t, Tess’s
AnwenA scream splits the air. If I wasn’t already watching Estrella like a hawk, I would still look over just in time to see King Isai touch one finger to the arrow through the center of his chest, then slump. Estrella tries to catch him, but she’s not strong enough to support his bulk, so they go
“I was in the hall,” he whispers. “I didn’t—”“We have to move him,” I say. “Now or never.”Queen Suniva smiles softly down at her husband. “I’m afraid, Prince Anwen, that we have already arrived at never. There’s nothing your healer could do for him now.”Estrella closes her eyes, and fresh pain te
EstrellaMy heart stopped in the moment Father’s did. I have a vague and distant sense of being moved—someone says Father may be crushed if we don’t—but no idea where I’m being sent. The noise of the ballroom dampens. There’s less screaming, or at least, less outside of my head.Father is dead. Not
‘I’m going to look into the matter myself,’ I tell Mother and Castor. ‘You will know what I do.’Before we reach the voices, Anwen leads me into a passage behind a tapestry which releases us into an empty hall I’ve never seen before. For a moment, I consider that Anwen is actually part of the plot,
AnwenI blink awake the next morning, sore and scraped. For a second, I stare at the ceiling, trying to remember who I fought. Then, someone shifts in the bed beside me, and everything snaps into place.The assassination of King Isai. Estrella yelling at me. Falling into bed with her. And collapsing
I blink. “What?”“It’s an idiom.” She flips her hand dismissively. “I mean to say you have nothing, and you’re pretending otherwise.”I swallow. In that moment of hesitation, a lance of pain rips through my chest, nowhere near my mark. I put my hand to it.“Did you feel that?” I ask.“Feel what?” Sh
She groans. “I really think that might count as two parties.”With a laugh, I let them lead me out of my new bedroom in my new home and down to the temple to start the rest of my life. Ingrid, Estrella, and Raven leave to join the crowd, but Eva stays with me. According to Snowcrest tradition, she w
CandaceI drag a comb through my thin hair and stare at myself in the mirror on my vanity. More accurately, the new mirror on my new vanity. Hollis and I had to exchange one more goodbye because I had to return to Dun’s Crossing long enough to pack up my life. Some things weren’t worth the trouble o
I press my mouth to hers, mapping the curve of her smile with my tongue. She laughs up into me, breathless with relief. I trace the fullness of her cheek, the slope of her neck. She nips my lower lip. I climb into the bed with her, careful of her many injuries. Someday, we’ll talk about her mother,
Hollis‘Got some more over here,’ Zain calls through the mind-link.I drag the heavy cart across the red-mottled snow toward my Beta. My muscles burn with exertion, but I’m not stopping until this whole battlefield is clear. I won’t let a wolf suffer longer than they have to.Zain nudges ice off a h
“No!” Nessa shrieks. “I warned you about this, about her. She’s twisting your mind.”Eva laughs in her face. “She’s twisting things?”Nessa darts to Soren’s side and grabs his arm. “We can’t stop. Rowena said there would be hell to pay if—”Hollis gestures sharply with the arm I’m not holding onto.
CandaceMy heart hammers in my throat. Our weapons shine dully in the snow, Hollis’s sword dwarfing my dagger. Eva drags her gaze from them up to our clasped hands. My other arm throbs, a reminder that I don’t think I could fight her off if I wanted to.She adjusts her grasp on her knife to a stabbi
Eva scoffs and smashes the hilt of her knife into my fingers around her arm. “When have we ever had trouble talking to each other?”“Exactly.” My fingers throb as I wrap them around my sword. “That’s why it was so hard.”“Bullshit!” Her voice cracks. “Just tell me. Four little words. I found my mate
HollisAt the same moment as I reach the wide ring of defenders and ranged fighters encircling the heart of the battle, Candace limps to a stop at my side. Blood stains her gray coat in a dozen places, and my heart leaps into my throat. I meet her huge, dark eyes. She melts into a human before me. H
There. The break I need. ‘Gavin wouldn’t let you lead, would he?’The shield flickers for a moment, and I crash through it. Sweet air courses into my lungs. I can’t waste the moment, so I charge at her blindly.‘I kept him as my figurehead,’ she howls. ‘I did not need his permission to act. I needed