LOGINThe smell reached us before the camp did, a mix of smoke and blood with something worse beneath both. I pulled my cloak over my nose, but it did nothing; the smell seemed to settle against the back of my throat instead. Perhaps that was why none of us had spoken for the last half mile. Even Zin.
The trees thinned ahead, reminding me of riding through them the last time we'd been here. Back then, Bella had gone rigid
The smell reached us before the camp did, a mix of smoke and blood with something worse beneath both. I pulled my cloak over my nose, but it did nothing; the smell seemed to settle against the back of my throat instead. Perhaps that was why none of us had spoken for the last half mile. Even Zin.The trees thinned ahead, reminding me of riding through them the last time we'd been here. Back then, Bella had gone rigid, and Carlin had told me to stay behind him. The smoke had been wrong then too, thick and heavy, while Garret shouted orders as people ran around us before finally telling us to leave.Go.I tightened my hands around the reins as the western camp—or what remained of it—appeared between the trees."Oh, gods," Ev whispered.
“The Western Camp.” I stared at Zin.Of all the things I expected her to say, that wasn’t one of them.“You want to go there?”“I thought that was obvious.”“It wasn’t.”Zin glanced toward the camp gates. “Then I’m losing my touch.”I folded my arms. “Carlin just left with a recovery group.”“I noticed.”“He told me they’re searching.”“I heard.”“And you want us t
By the time I found Carlin again, my headache had become the least important thing in the world. The room was crowded. Seekers stood shoulder to shoulder around a long wooden table, some still wearing armor. Mud covered boots. Bandages wrapped arms and heads. One man had dried blood streaked across the side of his face, and I couldn't tell whether it belonged to him.No one spoke above a murmur. Carlin stood near the back. Ev was beside him. Zeph stood on her other side, arms folded tightly across his chest. I slipped through the doorway. Carlin noticed me immediately.Of course he did.His eyes traveled over me, probably checking that I'd managed to dress myself without falling over, before settling on my face.I moved beside him. "What happened?"
My first thought upon waking was that my head had been split open with an axe. My second was that someone had stuffed wool into my mouth. My third was that my bed smelled wrong. I kept my eyes closed. That seemed safest. The pillow beneath my cheek smelled faintly of leather, pine, and something warm I couldn't place. Something distinctly… Manly.My eyes snapped open. Instant regret. Pain stabbed through my skull, and I groaned, squeezing them shut again."Nope."Whatever was happening could wait. Death seemed preferable. I pulled the blanket higher and tried to disappear beneath it. Then memories began crawling out of whatever dark hole the alcohol had shoved them into. Zin. A bottle. My legs being warm. Laughing. Then Carlin.You're pretty.
"Easy, love."I froze, then closed my eyes. Of course, I thought. When I opened them again, Zin grinned at me."You're out late.""So are you." I pointed out."Yes, but I'm an assassin."I stared at her. "And that means?""I keep unusual hours.""That explains absolutely nothing." I rolled my eyes."It explains most things about me."She released my shoulders, but her eyes immediately traveled past me. Toward the direction Zeph had gone. Her eyebrows lifted.I knew that look. "Don't."
The rest of dinner passed by in a blur. I forced myself to eat, not wanting Carlin to have a reason to hover, especially after he'd already seen me collapse from forgetting to eat before. He was already protective, and now, with everything that had happened, I knew he'd be even more so. However, the knowledge that I *needed* to eat and the *desire* to eat were two very different things. I listlessly pushed a piece of food around my plate with my fork. Suddenly, someone spoke across the table, but I couldn't even register what they said. Ev let out a laugh, and then Zin said something that elicited a mutter from Carlin that sounded suspiciously like a threat.Normally, I would have listened and probably contributed. However, tonight their voices blurred together, becoming little more than noise. The word "elf" kept circling through my thoughts. My fingers drifted toward my ear before I caught myself a
After that tense moment, my father dismissed me with a flick of his hand, ordering me back to my chambers as though I were a disobedient child. Humiliation burned through me hotter than the hearthfires, my fists clenching at my sides as I stormed away, my footsteps snapping against the cold stone f
My parents sat at the head of the hall, commanding every gaze. Father’s broad shoulders filled his high-backed chair, Mother’s poise as sharp as any blade. Both wore deep green trimmed with brown. The colors of House Verden, echoing the forests that bound our lands. Father’s gaze pinned me the mome
The tea room glowed with firelight and polite chatter, silver spoons clinking gently against porcelain cups. Yet despite the warmth, my father’s cold anger clung to me like frost, coiling tighter the longer I lingered at his side. Something gnawed at him beneath that regal composure, and I
“Come on, Belladonna. If I have to be awake, so do you.” I shoved gently at the great furry mass hogging my blankets. Bella cracked open one amber eye, huffed a hot breath that smelled faintly of venison scraps, and sprawled wider across the bed. Her thick coat was warm under my hand,







