idn't touch it for three hours. I let it fester on Nero's obsidian desk like a curse waiting to speak. Outside, Manhattan's sunset painted jagged teeth ac

age, but my soul screamed at the sight of it: Mira, my Mira, kneeling obediently before the

said, flat as ice. No emo

on's gilded edge, careful not to br

w as he loomed beside the desk. "That's Vampire Court territory. One wron

he blood-inked calligraphy

leasure of your company fo

ngs, and trea

ent hand-more hurrie

n one. We have

pupils thinning to slits. He knew. They w

CA

teeth and crystal, doormen wearing smiles that didn't reach their eyes. As the elevator ascended in glass

s in designer armor and velvet suits danced beneath chandeliers shaped like bleeding hearts. In t

breath. No. Not j

a

hed with burning runes, ribs visible through stretched skin. His eyes locked onto mine, unseeing but a

ound the smal

eat

he white rug at the elevator's threshold. I r

emerged like a serpent

e purred, voice silk-drape

ngered on m

med like razors as he raised a champa

ret spilling from his grin. "She's become quite

art s

She crouched in a shredded ballgown, my locket pulsing faintly against her chest like a wound. Her wri

ne glass explo

E

en seen her draw before her rapier rested agains

sbane wine. Her lips brushed my ear. "Let's see h

olves in silk, monsters in

rved from stone. His voice slithered thro

the lunge. S

ribs as I dove to the weapon tray, grabbing the nearest

. "That's a bu

et. Her laugh caught in her throat. Black b

I whispered.

under her. She crumpled, a

r pets well, Ash King." He bent to lick Isolde's

PO

legance. Shadows draped across velvet couch

d like quicksilver-enhanced wolfsbane, refined by witches ex

ed, smug in t

l and replacing it with an identical one. "T

the curtain, his pistol p

said. Calm

. "You'll deliver this t

led for crimes even the C

paled

s tone prom

I turned to Nero. "Wh

t watched me as if I'

ght s

ted his glass a

arling, I've been immune to wolfs

stiff

n Mira

opened

SHAT

lled out, silver knife flashing in his hand.

a vampire lord, who t

nes flare

to molten chains. They snapped, detonated. The scent of iron and ash fille

roa

ted, jaw elongating, claws slicing through his shirt. A

en-col

blood branding my skin. He lo

" he

ed. She staggered forwa

Phoenix child lives. She'

n she f

AFTE

n peroxide over the gash on his side. It hissed, the silver in his bloodstr

uttered, chest rising

gauze. My fin

new file opened. I wa

IX PR

fr

Ultrasounds. Bir

en e

docu

Seraph

Lillian

er: U

ification: Ome

without Alpha-l

d at th

ro whispered beh

oed in the city

re

Contin