ndria

no time

t made Jade flinch behind me. A shower of wood chips scattered across the fl

g and victorious, were Eleanor and Christal. They had run to him, tattling like children, and led him he

oots cracked against the shattered wood. "Who gave you t

l weight, radiating dominance. He expected me to cower. To shrink

in in my chest, right where that silver arrow had punched through. The memory of his arms around me, the whisper of his voice in my ear, the steel sliding through my ribs. He had held me while I died. And now he was standing in my

spered, my voice breaki

ry existence-only

, her face twisted in theatrical grievance. "She has no respect for anyone! She ref

He wanted to break me. To reassert his control. To remind me-and everyone wat

he grip coming-a crushing hold meant to force me to my k

y escaped through luck. His fingers closed on empty air. I heard the sharp exhale of frustration es

e bedpost, making myself as small as possible. "I just... I need time. I need to think. Every

xpression shifted-the anger still there, but now layered w

re upset about what happened. That's why I've brought Lady Eleanor and Christal here to apologize to you." He said it a

, a king commanding his cou

, not when he was watching. They stepped forward and mumbled insincere apologies, their eyes shooting daggers at me the

emonstrate his power over everyone in the room, including me. He wanted to prove that he could

e trembling with what I wanted him to read as hysteria. "You bring

tilt my head back to look him in the eye, but I let my shoulders shake with suppressed sobs. My han

real tears-I had learned long ago how to summon them on command. "Pleas

the pressure. He saw exactly what he expected to see: an Omega falling apart. I watched his face as he read me-a

ion. He had come here to break me, and he believed he had succeeded. I saw the moment he decided

an stand against me? You think you can reject my gifts, refuse my messengers, hide in your room like a child?" He stepped

. But behind my tear-filled eyes, a cold fire burned. Let him think he had broken me. Let him walk away believ

"We're done here. She's learned her les

d pets. Christal shot me one last look of pure venom over her shoulder. Eleanor

traightened my spine, wiped my face with the back of my hand, and felt my expression settle in

rfectly steady. "The air in her

d beg-and had seen the mask drop in an instant, the tears vanish as if they had never been. A slow, fier

red door. I did not need to look back. The wreckage was his d

hout thought, down the hallway, past the staring servants, toward the back of the estate