Candace“Here we go.” Raven’s Aunt Nola holds out a squalling, still bloody bundle of baby.Kieran accepts it like he barely notices the blood. Raven just slumps back against her pillows, sweat-soaked and panting.“We have a son.” Kieran’s grin could light up a whole castle.“Lemme see’m,” Raven mum
My skin grows cold. “How do you know about that? My parents made me promise never to tell anyone.”“She told me.” He shakes his head. “But we’re getting off topic. I don’t want to talk about your parents. I want to talk about mine.”“Okay?” I say slowly.“My father,” he corrects. “I was talking to h
HollisOutside the tent, Candace’s sobs sound as loud as Raven’s screams did not too long ago, but nothing changes in the flow of frantic traffic between the other tents. Almost everyone heads for the largest one, half of them clutching gifts, to pay fealty to the new baby prince.Something in my ch
Not that I’m keeping track. I, in fact, am doing the exact opposite. I’ve been so caught up in her that I’ve been neglecting my responsibilities. Even if she’s not the person I’m going to spend my life with, I still believe in her dream. There’s just no reason for her to lie, or to seem so scared if
CandaceFor the third morning in a row, I pull my covers over my head as lunch approaches and rub eyes gritty from crying.Well, not exactly the third morning in a row. The very next day, I tried. I got up, made myself beautiful even as Ingrid fluttered around me, saying I didn’t have to go out if I
Outside the tent, someone makes the tiniest whimper I’ve ever heard. My heart squeezes.“They can come in, but no lights.” I sit up. “And don’t ask, please.”Ingrid nods and starts to turn away, but her gaze locks on mine. She’s noticed. Of course. Every muscle in my body tenses.She turns back for
HollisMy plan to act like I actually believe Eva is going to be my wife is going great—except for the fact that I basically haven’t slept since I started it because my mark hurts so Goddess-damned bad. That’ll fade. I know it will. Because I do believe Eva’s going to be my wife. It’s what everyone
‘Catch me if you can!’ she calls through the mind-link.In wolf form, I can’t give her the necklace if I want to. I stuff her clothes and mine in her sewing bag, then shift and give chase.Escuro flies by. I barely notice it. My attention remains locked on Eva’s bright-red tail disappearing between
‘Ah,’ she says like she’s finally cracked one of the secrets of the universe. ‘It wasn’t Blanca, was it?’‘Help!’ I yell to Kieran, Taner, and Finn. The rest of our reinforcements aren’t here yet, so they’re my only hopes.‘It was you.’A finger of wind lashes out and flogs my back, like I remember
CandaceA wolf dives at me out of the screaming, clashing mayhem, its maw drenched in blood. One half of my brain orders a paw to swing. The other shouts, RUN! I manage a hopping scramble that seems more likely to get me killed than anything else.And one of the men Hollis picked to stay at my side
If I don’t admit I love her, maybe the Goddess won’t think to take her from me like She’s taken damn near everyone else.All together like that, it sounds fucking stupid. Like a kid trying to keep the monsters under the bed from becoming real by saying they’re not there. Like screaming into the wind
HollisI stand with my squad at one of the side doors, waiting for the final signal from Father. Pinning Soren’s forces in, making it so their numbers are useless because they can’t get enough of them out to change anything, is the highest priority, so everyone is attacking from different angles. Ca
The doors swing open. We leap to our feet at varying speeds, like Soren could’ve gotten this deep into the castle without us hearing a peep.Kash strides in, an easy grin on his face. “Sorry I’m late.”“I do not believe you were invited,” King Andri says coldly.So his change of heart has its limits
Candace‘He’s in,’ Kieran says through the mind-link. ‘Everyone convene in the main dining room in fifteen minutes.’I look up at Ingrid, painting on the other side of her sitting room. She grins at me. I don’t know what comes next from here, and I doubt she does either, but we won’t be trapped in K
My gaze drifts to Eva. She watches the two of them dully, almost disinterested, but she has her arms wrapped around herself the way she always does when she’s upset. Holding herself together.She and I weren’t supposed to see all the same tutors, I remember suddenly. While I studied government, she
HollisFather and I march in lockstep up to the small door beside the front gates. Early morning sunlight promises spring might actually arrive in the mountains someday soon, as soft and sweet as waking up to Candace slipping back into the room with a sheepish smile on her face. Low conversation and
I close my eyes and try to sort through half-remembered geography lessons. LeClair belongs to…“Starfall Mountain.”He nods. “My sister Luci, my parents, all my younger brothers, burned alive in the temple on her wedding day because Gavin’s invasion wasn’t working. If I hadn’t run off, I’d have been