LOGINOn a whim, I try to roll him over, not expecting the iron cage of his arms to so much as shift. But he flips easily with a soft noise of surprise. I pull back, worried.“Apologies.” He smiles ruefully and taps the bandage on his face—on the side I rolled him to. “I think this will take some getting
“Oh.” I glance at Amval. Cirocco waits by his shoulder, clearly about to demand something similar. All the pressures of life suddenly descend back into place. With Kaloni dead, Amval has no rival for the crown. There’s going to be a coronation and then months of cleaning up what happened here. I’m g
Ingrid“The Goddess’ will is often far more complicated than any of us can guess,” Halit says, blood streaked on her cheek from the arrow she took to the shoulder before fleeing the altar.Laughter ripples through the temple. I know, from my second march up here, that the healthy hold up the wounded
And that is his mistake. The heartbeat he wastes on gloating gives me just enough time to slash at his unprotected throat, tearing through fur and old scar tissue.Blood waterfalls onto me, hot and fast. I wriggle out of the way before he crumples. Dead.Or at least it seems so. My halved vision mak
Amval“She will never be ready to marry my brother!” I shout as I storm into the packed temple, a sword lifted high above my head and a trail of allies collected from every corner of the palace behind me.Gasps ripple through the crowd, buoying my name forward. Ingrid turns, her jaw falling slack. T
I suck in a breath through my gritted teeth as Halit intones about the complexities of fate, how perhaps Amval dying was all part of Her cosmic plan for Cirocco and I to end up together. Maybe it was part of Her cosmic plan for me to punch a holy woman in the mouth.No. Joli is counting on me. Light
CandaceMother’s wall of wind reaches out to ensnare me, and I realize it doesn’t matter if I can kill her. I need to fight, or there’s no way out. Heart pounding, I dodge away from reaching fingers of wind, so close they ruffle my fur, and turn. She lurks across the circle from me, obviously waitin
HollisAt the same moment as I reach the wide ring of defenders and ranged fighters encircling the heart of the battle, Candace limps to a stop at my side. Blood stains her gray coat in a dozen places, and my heart leaps into my throat. I meet her huge, dark eyes. She melts into a human before me. H
“No.” I sip my coffee to steady myself. “I came to say thank you for holding the door. You wouldn’t have done that when we first met.”“For you?” He grins. “Course I would’ve.”“I don’t think so. I’ve been learning a lot about freedom lately. The idea that I don’t have the destiny I assumed, that I
CandaceI sit in my bedroom in Kar Castle, staring at the metal-reinforced sheet of wood over my window. The bag I packed to move into town lays on its side at the foot of my bed, saliva drying on the handle, but I can’t imagine being frustrated with Kash right now. Holding the door like that… it pr







