Blackw

convulsive movement, she ripped the leather cord from around her neck. The wood

uppressed pain and humiliation. "What... what

I reached into a concealed pocket in my jacket and pulled o

is card," I said, my voice calm and e

e scorpion. She had probably never held more than a

head frantically. "No. I c

into her palm, closing her fingers around it

our help. I need to know everything that happens in this house. Every conversation you overhear,

. "Your mother was loyal to mine. I'm putting my tru

memory was the key. But the next words were the o

to any human university in the world. Get him out of here. Give him a

t. Her only family. The one person

t as if it were a holy relic, her knuckles white. It wasn't

till streaming down her face. But her eyes were no longer fil

m. "I'll do it. Whatever you ne

ance was

e. "First step: leave that piece of wood where it belongs. In the

he discarded charm into a wast

ce and a nearly invisible earpiece. "For emergen

e her some time to settle into her new assignment, knowing that intelligence wouldn'

lle and Felicity. They're planning to trap you dur

. "I expected as mu

s about my wolflessness, the plan to make me a spectacle,

cellent. I was hoping for an opportunity

ession, and for the first time, a

observation. Some time later ,she came to me again, with a hint of hesitatio

ll

Hayden Randolph. His men brought back

sudden, hard thu

... I don't know, weapons or something. I just finis

pot on my neck where the locket used to be. It wasn'

nt, barbaric Alpha had

it, something else. Something unsettling and warm that I refused to name. Why? Why would the most power

eeling down, l