ier
ght air cool, the stars sharp. I break a piece
red like blood, like fire, like
n that corridor and held her chin and threatened her with the very secret I had sworn to keep. I watched her face crumple, and I kept going, because I needed an answer more than I needed her trust. She called me
ps out, calm and sharp-eyed.
kno
s. "You have been distracted since the tour. You have
y no
o this alliance rests on you. Tonight is sacred. The Goddess will speak,
l, when mates find each other and the future is written in the stars. But I am
e allian
I read every line before you did. They will have
out in the courtyard, on a white wolf in
t ending slavery, about changing this king
y says. "You have been differen
ight and watching. "She i
t. You care about her.
hard. "And if
n be careful. Be smart. Do not let
heart has never led m
"Your mother was the same. She l
r her warmth, and the way she lo
o unite the packs, to remake this kingdom. You also have the power to start a war and bri
s toward the building where Helen showed me the corridors. The
miling, all pretending. I nod at greetings and smile at bows, but I am not looking
th
wless, grey eyes cold. "Prince Xavier. I
impre
. The dancers, the serv
stomping. Servers weave through the crowd with trays, in clean uniforms, with brushed hair
"Who a
ntertainers. They serve,
iners,"
es
e beaten, starved, and humiliated, and I k
ough the room, sweet
le
ds clasped, in a clean uniform, her red hair pinned back. Her face is pale
and instant. Someone struck
heart pound and my blood burn. I have thought about her every night since the
bsorbed in the dancers. I take a drink from t
ng, her eyes on the floo
look
rise, or anger, or even fear of me. It is something deeper and darker, a
omeone who has alre
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