تسجيل الدخول"Why?" The word tore out of me before I could stop it. "What have I ever done to deserve this?"Nerissa only watched me, arms crossed, unmoved."I have never done anything to you." My voice shook, but I kept going. "I've stayed quiet. I've never opposed a single thing you've said, and I don't even have the power to. So why? What could possibly justify this level of hatred?""You ruined everything." Her voice cracked through the room like a whip. "You came from nowhere and destroyed years of planning. You washed away dreams I've held onto my entire life. Flushed them down the gutter like they meant nothing. You are the reason I've become this. I never wanted to do this. And here I am, doing the exact thing I swore I never would, because of you.""What did I do?" I stared at her, genuinely lost. "I didn't know you existed until months ago. What could I have possibly taken from you?""Shut up." Her eyes flashed. "You took Lucien away from me.""Lucien was never mine to take." Something b
AYLIN'S POV It was dark for days.That was all I could measure time by anymore, darkness stretching endlessly around me, broken only by the jolt of wheels over uneven ground. A coat had been tied over my eyes the moment they threw me into the carriage, and I hadn't seen a single thing since.I felt like I was traveling farther and farther from everything I knew, farther from the palace, farther from anyone who might come looking. I had no idea how long we'd been moving. I had no idea where we were going.The carriage finally jolted to a stop.Hands grabbed me before I could brace myself, dragging me out and shoving me down onto hard ground. Pain shot up through my knees. Before I could recover, they hauled me back up by the arms and forced me down again, this time onto something that felt like a chair.Then the coat came off.Light hit me all at once, and I blinked against it, trying to focus on the shapes forming in front of me. Two men. Three. I couldn't tell exactly, my vision sti
LUCIEN'S POV "The northern pack lost six members to the last rogue attack," the elder said, his voice grim across the table. "We need reinforcements before winter, Your Majesty.""You'll have them." I kept my tone level, even as my mind kept drifting somewhere it shouldn't have, back toward the ballroom, back toward her.Something is wrong.Tairn's voice cut through my thoughts, sharp and sudden."What is it," I muttered under my breath. His voice sharpened further, urgent in a way I hadn't heard from him in years. I feel magic in the palace.I straightened. "Magic?"Aylin. The name hit me like a blow. We need to find Aylin. Now."I'm on it." I was already on my feet, not bothering to apologize to the elders before striding out of the hall, senses stretched wide, reaching for her scent the way I had a thousand times before.Nothing.I couldn't sense her at all.I found Kaelen near the refreshment tables. "Kaelen. Have you seen Aylin?""She said she needed the restroom." He frowned,
AYLIN'S POV I turned and found the last face I wanted to see tonight."You look exquisite, darling.""Roderick." "Is that all I get?" He smiled, easy and unbothered. "No 'thank you'?" He was practically grinning at this point."Thank you." I kept my voice flat.We stood there a moment, his gaze fixed on mine, and something about the stillness of it made my skin crawl. He had a presence that never sat right with me, a calm that always seemed to be hiding something sharper underneath, and I hated it."May I have this dance?""I'd really rather not....." I deadpanned.He didn't wait for the rest of my sentence. His hand closed around mine, and before I could pull away, he'd already led me into the center of the floor, pulling me into step with him.I kept as much distance between us as the dance allowed."How are you enjoying the ball?" he asked."It's going well." I lifted my chin. "Better than some people promised it would."He only laughed, low and unbothered. "Oh, Aylin. This is j
AYLIN'S POV My heart had lifted the second I saw him at the top of the staircase.Then the steward finished speaking, and everything in me went cold."And with him, Lady Nerissa Valmont."Lucien wasn't walking down alone. Nerissa's hand rested on his arm, her smile polished and practiced, and the two of them descended together while the crowd below erupted into applause."Why is he with her," Kaelen whispered, and I wondered the exact same thing.Beside me, Seraphine's jaw tightened. "Same question."Someone near us murmured, low enough that they probably thought no one heard. "They make such a perfect couple."I felt that sentence land somewhere deep in my chest, sharp and unwelcome. I didn't want it to be true. I didn't want to admit how right it looked either, Lucien in his black and silver attire, Nerissa gliding beside him like she'd been carved to match him. They moved with the same poise, the same effortless command of the room, like a king and queen who had always belonged ex
AYLIN'S POV Seraphine and I walked side by side down the long corridor, my silver dress whispering against the marble with every step.We found Terak and Kaelen waiting near the grand staircase, and Terak reached us first, dressed in a suit unlike anything I'd seen at court before. No tie, just an open collar with embroidery threaded up the front in gold patterns that caught the torchlight, cufflinks shaped like small crescent moons, and a sash tied loosely at his waist that fell in soft folds down one side, giving the whole thing the elegant, structured look of something from an older world entirely.Seraphine let go of my hand and slipped hers into Kaelen's instead. Terak offered me his arm, and I took it, falling into step beside him.His hair had grown in since I'd last seen him properly, and his shoulders seemed broader somehow, though maybe I'd simply forgotten what he looked like outside of beta duty and quiet corners.He leaned close. "You look beautiful tonight, Aylin.""You







