“That was lovely,” the woman with the peacock mask said, smiling down at the three of us.“Thank you,” I said. “And please tell me your name. I’m afraid I’ve been calling you Mrs. Peacock in my head.”She laughed. “It’s Joyce Lockwind, my dear. But I think I like Mrs. Peacock better.”The conversati
Sarah POVThe dancer, breathing heavily, brought her hand down. One of the knife throwers came over with a towel and wrapped it around the wound.“And a blood sacrifice gives final praise to the gods!” Rob roared, smiling as if to indicate it was all part of an act, and the applause was instantaneou
Sarah POVZane and I went into the larger bedroom to tuck in the girls. Instead of their pajamas, however, they were wearing each other’s dresses. Grace was sitting on the floor looking up at Chloe who was standing on one of the beds and, I realized, imitating people from the party.“Well, I couldn’
Sarah POVI answered the phone. “Hello?”“Sarah Astor?” asked a somewhat husky voice that could be male or female but I assumed was a werewolf. There was just something imperious in the tone.“Yes. Who is this?”“Alpha Zane needs you to join him at the VIP after-party. It’s on the top floor of the c
Sarah POVI closed my eyes for a moment, just telling myself not to panic, then I walked to the door to be certain it was locked. It was, firmly.I turned back to the people in the room. Instantly, I started recognizing them from the auction. There was the woman who held the canary in a cage. There
Sarah POV“Put it on, or you’ll get the Taser and we’ll put it on you ourselves,” the leader said.We were in a small room, just she and I and a new guard, a gamma male, who didn’t bother to look at me and held a weird-looking contraption in his hands. There were no windows, only the one door and a
Zane POVI had been in the smoking room at the Rotary Club before and been asked to admire its hunter-green walls, leather furnishings, and original Pierre Testu and Paul Rubens. I had been offered, and refused, fine cigars and been offered, and accepted, the world’s finest scotch, and I had sat in
Sarah POVIn a strange way, I was glad I had gotten drunk with Zane. Otherwise, the feeling of the room as it spun around my head and the way my arms and legs wouldn’t do what I wanted would have frightened me more than they already did.They had forced some sort of wine down my throat before they b
Sarah POVAfter the onsite security personnel and police had come, taken Ella’s body along with our statements, and then left, it was early morning. I worried about the girls, but they were as keyed up as I, and finally we all just piled on Zane’s bed, which was now my bed as well. Zane had his arms
Sarah POVGinnyWolf: Sarah is a MOON WOLF??!! Are you KIDDING ME?WhiteKnuckling: This is a hoax. Total bullshit.PPPPJohnP: I knew it.ShangHairSurprise: Will she be reforming the Luna Temple again?Rosemary&Sage: Hey now, PPPPJohn, THAT’S bullshit.With a laugh, I put the phone in the purse Lainey
Sarah POV“We all fear death,” Zane said.That wasn’t what I meant at all, and I told him so. My dress turned to silver in the moonlight, and I held his warm hands in mine.“If you seek the truth, stop seeking enemies and find the moon,” I and the statue and someone else said, speaking as one.He lo
Zane POVIt was thallium poisoning.“The treatment is proceeding with Prussian blue, which traps thallium to keep it from being further absorbed, as well as activated charcoal and forced diuresis,” the doctor, whose name I learned was Vassles, told me.Sitting by Sarah’s bedside, I was trying hard n
Zane POV“Alpha Zane!”Never, in all the years he had been working for me, had I heard such a sound of panic in Hans’s voice.I looked up and out my window. Hans wasn’t in the house. I saw him frantically waving at me over by the poppy garden almost a mile away.I ran down the stairs and out of the
Sarah POVThe day was lovely—perfect, even. The girls were back in school and making up for lost time, Zane was in his office and waved to me as I walked past the villa, and all the “lieutenants” had gone home.It was odd to look back on the past year. Had there ever been more than a day here and th
Ella POVMy contact at the prison told me Hayes followed his script exactly, and for the moment, I decided to put the wolf out of my mind. Few things had ever worked out as nicely as discovering the good doctor’s gambling addiction, and Hayes had several million reasons to do as he was told.When th
Sarah POVThe second Zane and I were in the car, I raised the partition for some privacy, turned to Zane, and asked the question burning acid in my stomach.“Do you think he actually hurt the girls?”Zane shook his head, but his eyes were haunted. “Not physically, but we’ll have to talk to them, see
“We found your money,” I said.“I thought you would.”We sat another few minutes in silence. “So, who was paying you? Who got you to betray my household?”Hayes smiled to himself.“Something funny?”“Do you think I’m some lackey doing someone’s bidding for a few dollars?” he asked, meeting my gaze n