aide

floa

urn of the silver-all of it had vanished. I looked down and saw my own body, limp

d to this place by the

door screech

ually composed and handsome, was twisted with a sick, tri

pread across his lips. He walked over, nudgi

ig from his flask. "No more of your

ow he'd bribed the council elders with promises of power, how he'd paid a rogue to

ey refused to bow. So loyal, even to the end. I had them executed as yo

forward, trying to claw his smug face, but my hands pass

despised. A physical manifestation of the insecurity that festered beneath his polished exterior. He absently twisted

air in the dun

elt like the stone walls themselves were groani

outside the cell, followed b

This power was ancient, terrifying. It dw

moved with a liquid grace that was utterly at odds with his intimidating presence.

raw power radiating from him, a primal forc

epped into

color of molten gold. I recognized him from the pack s

Regent. The Tyrant Kin

nstant. He bowed low, his body trembling. "Regent Ram

oor. His expression was unreadable, a mask of cold indifference, yet his gaze was

g sensation, as if his st

gloves. He reached out and gently, almost reverently, lifted my chin. Hi

terror. He had no idea what was happening, and

st my cold skin. For a fraction of

in a language I didn't understand. It was ancient,

pull, as if his words were a ro

is attention to the quivering Colli

, his voice a low, chilling rumbl

ker in those golden eyes-a complex, hidden emotion that he quickly masked. It wasn