ept delivering food, plates arranged like proposals, each one more elaborate than the l

watch m

t. The only part of me they hadn't yet p

my cupped hands like a prisoner because I

until the lens vanished beneath dark folds. Let them hear my foo

rturned, crusted remnants drying on th

e lock was old, simple, but not compliant. I twisted until the pin bent, until

foot

d the door jus

mi

No warning

like a relic. He scanned the room with a blank expression that still managed to radiat

id no

ing copper from where

d. "I don't need your pity. And

ement or offense. He stepped forward and surveyed

mething," he sa

he

ine, thick as frost. The tray stayed behind, still s

dn't

I

ed me into a dreamless void. And when I woke again, it was

mi

e carried tw

at a long oak table. The dining hall was cold but beautiful, lit by a flickering chandelier. Frost clung

e. "I didn't poison it," he sai

endering. Because I wanted to

, counterclockwise. Then sipped. Not r

ected," he said, after a b

to meet your

p down. "You're here to make

, exactly

Lives.

e you for this arrangement? A title? The western ports? Or did he

ne sti

get to spea

he table, his voice lower now.

htened aroun

n truth. She died protecting that i

at and pulled somethin

ph

it tow

d, then pi

. His eyes held the same silver as Damien's, but his smile, his

" Damie

brot

dded

appened

happe

r frac

he photo li

I killed hi

dn't

olkov crest carved into it, two wolves back to back, their throats slit in mirrored

n. Rot.

's safe," Damien said, voi

n't prove

ves eve

air sliding back with a scrap

r brother," I said

dn't

ut your bloodline signed the order. You wear t

it up with

said. "He

ted. "Then you

e table. It clinked against the woo

roof, Volkov. I

the frame like he was weighing whether to retu

o, Valeria. You'

pped throu

icked from

ry of a boy I'd never met, and the taste of betrayal