ding lay beyond her, one thing she knew for certain. Most magic spells needed something to anchor them. And one of those important anchors

an L

then she needed to eliminate the sou

yed her. Most, if not all of her allies, had died for no crime but standing beside her. And Adrian wanted her alive for some reason she could not fathom

was certain wanted her dead was the

ly their superior werewolf ears could hear them. Then they saw the blood on Estella's lip and the dark t

then turned to the shallow cut across her throat, cleaning its edges with a touch so careful it was almost reverent. One of them as

rried questions that kept coming. She lay there like a doll, still and slack, her eyes open but fixed on nothing, somewhere far beyond the cano

ried look before they left, clos

another coaxed Estella in a soft, careful voice. She gave them nothing. The

. Voices rose, and someone suggested fetching the med

e it

ed the chamber and stopped beside the bed. Estella finally turned her

at it. Hers were the opposite entirely: fierce, searing and burning with a rage so deep it had hardened into

s had held only hatred before, they now held a murde

did to you," he said, tilting his

hin from weeping, yet the venom beneath it had not dulled in the slightest. "You'll

not looking the least bit troubled. If anything, something in his expression implied that

e bed without asking, stirred the broth and

only stared stubbornly into his eyes,

head to force her mouth open, only to find her teeth locked against him, refusing him even an inch no matter how he pressed. It went on far longer than either of them

muttered, wiping a smear of broth

back in the bowl with a small, sharp clink, i

ncern. "If you mean to kill me, Estella Montharne, you will have to be whole first. You can barely lift your own head. Sta

wait for her answer. The door closed behind him, a

as right. Starving herself would accomplish nothing. It would not bring Adrian one step closer to the grave, and it would not make her st

wly and reache

akably medicinal once she paid it any mind. She could guess what it was. The cure for the wolfsbane still moving through her blood. Adrian must have slipped it into the broth while the tray was in his hands, bec

actions clever? Because it certainly

de was about to lose a rather valuable man,

la know how hard