LOGINRemi POV. "Little hero."Abel's arms were already open. I walked straight into them.He caught me properly. Both arms. The kind of hug that meant someone had been worried and wasn't going to admit it."Still have both hands?" he said into my hair."Count them."He pulled back. Checked. "Two. Good." Then he looked harder. At my face. At my general. State."You're glowing," he said."I'm not—""You absolutely are. That specific kind of glow." He tilted his head. "I wonder whose handiwork that is.""Abel—""My brother works fast. I'll give him that."My face went completely on fire.He is GLOWING too, Parrot noted. Look at his face. He knows EXACTLY what happened and he's delighted."Damon." I turned. Desperate for a subject change. "You look well. Considering Kade said you went missing."Damon looked at me. Almost smiled."Missing in his heart," he said. Quietly. "As I am apparently no longer his."The air changed slightly around Kade.He was looking at the gates. Very intently. At som
Nero POVI got in the boat.It moved. Immediately. The moment my weight shifted to it the whole thing rocked and dipped and the water came very close to the edge on one side.I sat down. Fast.The boatman looked at me. Said nothing.Remi got in after me. The boat barely moved when she stepped in. She sat beside me."See?" she said. "Fine.""Fine," I confirmed.The boatman pushed off.The current took us immediately.I gripped the side.She looked at the bank. At the trees passing. At the water.Then she looked at me.I was looking at the water. At how much of it there was. At the way it moved under us. At the fact that the bottom of it was completely invisible and whatever was down there could be—"Tell me about the army," she said.I looked at her."The recruits. How did you plan to get them?" She was looking at me. Not at the water. trying to distract me."The arena," I said. "Word spread. How far it spread I didn't know until—" The boat lurched. The current shifted. I gripped the s
Nero POV"The curse didn't come last night."Remi said it like she was still surprised by it. Sitting on the edge of the bed pulling her boot on. Hair still messy from sleep. The star blanket half on the floor."No," I said. "It didn't.""Because we—""Yes.""All night.""Yes."She looked up at me. That specific expression. The one that meant she was pleased about something and absolutely was not going to say so out loud."Good," she said."Very," I said.She went back to her boot. Her ears were pink. I watched her fight with the lace for a moment before she got it.The small room was warm. Morning light coming through the east window thin and gold. Everything in here — the carved wolf above the bed, the clay figure on the shelf, the faded star blanket — felt more familiar than it should after one night. Like the room had decided I belonged in it."Nero." She stood up. Looked at me properly. "I need to tell you something. About Olandria. About what grandma said."I put down my jacket.
Anatoria POVThe gardens were still wet.Early morning. The blood moon still warming up. Everything slightly damp and quiet. The palace hadn't fully woken yet.She walked slowly. She always walked slowly. There was never a reason to rush. Rushing was for people who feared being caught. She feared nothing of the sort.He walked beside her. Half a step back. The way servants walked.She almost laughed.Still performing it. Even now."You chose a good position," she said. Conversationally. Like they were discussing the weather."I know," he said."Close enough to hear everything. Private enough to be invisible. Essential enough that removing you would have caused questions." She looked at the wet garden. "I use the same logic myself when I place people. I recognised it eventually." She paused. "I should have recognised it sooner."He said nothing."The earring," she said. "That was you.""Yes.""You took it from my room.""Yes.""When we had it. During the ceiling incident." She nodded s
Anatoria POVNero was growing stronger. Far too strong. That beast in the arena… the one we had counted on to tear him apart .. had been ripped to pieces instead. And now the blood moon was feeding him even more power. It made my skin crawl.Victoria paced like a caged cat, her heels clicking sharply against the marble. “How did he do it? That thing was supposed to be unstoppable..”I sat on the high-backed chair, fingers drumming on the armrest. “He’s becoming something else. The moon is changing him faster than we anticipated. And Kade… that boy is still too attached to his brother. If we move openly against Nero now, it will fracture the entire court. We need another way.”Victoria stopped pacing. A slow, satisfied smile crept across her face. “We finally have something. The right-foot man. The one with the limp. After digging deeper… he’s the leak. He’s working for the creatures. No doubt about it.”I leaned forward, eyes narrowing. “You’re certain?”“Positive. The guards I had t
Kade POV"Kade—""He won," I said. "He's fine. He's in Riverside with Remi. He's fine."Damon was quiet for a moment.Then he kept going. The cloth on my neck. My jaw. The cut he'd cleaned earlier."You've been holding everything together," he said. Quietly. "Since before the arena. Since Remi arrived. Since the venom got worse." He kept working. "You manage Nero. You manage Abel. You manage the army and the council and the mother situation and—" He stopped. "Who manages you?"I said nothing."Nobody," he said. Answering his own question."I don't need—""Everyone needs someone Kade." His hand stilled on my shoulder. "Even you."The room was very quiet.Steam rising.His thumb moved. Just once. Slow."I've missed you," he said. Very quietly.I reached up.Covered his hand with mine."I've missed you too," I said.He slipped into the water.I laughed. Couldn't help it. Water going everywhere. Him swearing about the temperature. Finding his footing. Finding me."You could have just aske







