Chapter 0001

Soldiers carry two caskets ahead of me into the Goddess’s temple, but I only keep my eyes fastened on the one that holds the body of the only man I’ve ever loved.

The only man I’ve ever kissed, even. I was supposed to marry him today.

The wolf in my soul raises her snout to the sky and gives a long, desperate howl.

“Juniper? Sweetheart, are you…are you all right?” my mom whispers, stepping close to my side in the long parade of people, taking my hand and giving it a squeeze. She keeps her voice low. She’s the Queen, after all, and I’m a Princess. People are watching.

Mom’s eyes move anxiously over my drawn face and then over the wedding gown that I’m wearing, which I’ve dyed black. She gave me a simple grey dress to wear to today’s state funeral for the two young Cadets who were recently killed in battle. When I’d shown up wearing this instead, my entire family had stared at me in shock.

Of course, I don’t expect them to understand – how could they?

Redman Blythe and I were engaged in secret, after all.

God, how ironic is it that the enemy killed him only days before he was supposed to steal me away from the palace and this royal life that I hate?

That the day we were supposed to be married, we bury him instead?

“Junie?” mom says, tugging on my hand and drawing my attention back to her as tears well on my lashes, threatening to slip down my cheeks. She frowns at me, confused and desperate to help, as we follow the coffins into the Goddess’s temple. “Do you…want to take a minute?”

Mom gestures towards a little alcove set aside for private prayers and I nod, stepping towards it, not wanting the press to get pictures of the royal family’s youngest Princess sobbing her eyes out. Mom murmurs something about coming with me, but I beg her to let me have just a minute alone.

I glance at my mom over my shoulder as I rush to the alcove. Dad and my brother Mark likewise stand with her, looking after me with worry, and I do my best to give them a smile – especially my wonderful mom, who is so good to me. But I fail, my lips trembling as I turn away.

I sit down hard on one of the cushioned benches, burying my head in my hands, my shoulders shaking as I sob, the tears again rushing down my cheeks. The news of Blythe’s death in battle a few days ago took me by total shock – because he shouldn’t have even been there. He was just a Cadet at Alpha Academy – still in training.

But the war has grown so dire they called even the least trained warriors to the front.

And then he died, and my world fell to pieces.

Blythe – I never thought I’d fall in love, but he completely swept me off my feet. He was just so wonderful – so tall, and handsome, and funny, and just like me he didn’t care about any of the trappings of royal life.

He was going to save me from it. Take me away in secret, marry me so my family no longer had any grounds to pull me back to my old life.

We were going to be so happy, live by our own rules.

And now I’m here, all alone.

My wolf presses herself warm against my heart, trying to give me hope, and I sniff hard, sitting up straight and wiping my wrist across my face because I am so, so sick of crying. I shake my head against my grief, gritting my teeth, hating it - hating the entire universe for taking him away from me, wishing desperately that there was something I could do to fix it.

“Anything,” I say, my words resonating deep in my throat. “I would do anything to fix this – to bring Redman Blythe back into my life.” And even as I shut my eyes, snapping my head to the side with the fervency of my wish, I know with a wild desperation that it’s true – that I’d burn worlds to the ground to have him again in my arms.

A cold breeze blows through the room and my eyes widen when my alcove grows suddenly dim, the noise and music of the funeral becoming hushed, indistinct. I gasp, my breath coming short in my throat when I realize that while the Temple itself is still full of rich winter daylight…

My alcove is shrouded in darkness.

“Anything, Princess?”

I jump nearly out of my skin as I turn towards the dark purr of a voice, my eyes fastening in sudden terror on the hooded man standing suddenly before me. The wind blows the edges of his dark cloak, his face cast so deeply in shadow that I cannot see his eyes.

“Wh-what?” I gasp.

“You’re perfectly dressed for an Underworld wedding,” he continues, his voice silky and low. “Didn’t you know that, when you chose a black wedding gown”

“What are you talking about?” I can’t tear my eyes away from this mysterious figure, from the way his mouth quirks up in a wicked smile.

“The God of Death has heard your prayer,” the man says. “He wishes to make you an offer.”

I just stare, my lips parting, hope blooming darkly in my chest.

“Come with me,” the man says, holding out a hand. “We will bring you to your Underworld groom. And in exchange,” his smirk deepens, “we offer you the chance to bring your lover back to life. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” I breathe, climbing suddenly to my feet and moving towards this man. “Yes, I would do anything to bring him back to life!”

“Then come,” he says, laughing low reaching his hand a little closer. “Let us make a bargain.”

I reach for the man’s hand, desperate to leap at this chance, but by wolf nips at my soul, bidding me to be cautious. I hesitate before my fingers touch this man’s palm, glancing back towards the room where I see my mother frowning, starting towards me.

“What – what are the terms of the bargain?” I whisper, anxious, whipping my head back to the man.

The corner of his pale lips turns up in a smirk. “I thought you’d do anything, Princess Juniper Sinclair.”

I glare at this man, fierce, not willing to play. “I will not make a fool’s bargain,” I snap. “You want me to go to the Underworld and get married? And then I have…have a chance to bring Redman Blythe back to life?”

The hooded man gives a simple shrug. “It is just a little game we’d have you play; the God of Death likes to be kept entertained. If you win, you will be granted a wish for anything in the world – including the plucking of a soul from the underworld and returning it to life. If you lose,” he shrugs, “you lose.”

I begin to pant and my wolf turns an anxious circle in my soul as we realize that he’s offering too much. Marry Blythe in the Underworld and then play some game to win his life back? There has to be a catch…but still – if there’s a chance that I can save him?

“What if I lose?” I whisper, terrified. “How do I know this isn’t rigged?”

“My Lord grows impatient,” the man growls, wind whipping again through the room as he holds his hand out closer to me. “My Lord offers no false bargains. Accept the terms now or the offer disappears. Forever.”

“Juniper?” I hear my mother call, her voice strangely muffled as she draws close to the alcove.

I gasp, knowing that my only chance is now.

If there’s a chance to get Blythe back? I have to take it.

I grit my teeth, shoving my hand hard against the man’s palm. “Deal,” I snap, fierce and determined to save my love if I can. No matter what the cost.

The hooded man laughs, tugging me close to his body and wrapping his arms around me.

“Juniper, no!” my mother screams, bursting into the darkness, reaching for me.

But it’s too late.

In a sudden rush of wind and shadows, I’m gone.