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
She seems to feel the same.We touch each other slowly, soft as the morning sunlight. She traces the line of my jaw with a broken nail, and I barely wince when she scrapes over a cut I don’t remember receiving. I kiss every inch of her face, covering her in me so she remembers that she will never be
Finn“Duck!” I snarl at Ingrid through the mind-link as my blunted practice sword, courtesy of Lightning Cape, slams into her shoulder again.“That’s a little high for ducking.” She flips a thick braid over her shoulder and huffs out a breath. “Shouldn’t I parry?”“Someone as strong as me would smas
A chill ices down my spine. That doesn’t sound like the words of a kidnapper. That sounds like an assassin.There are two ways to deal with an assassin: escape before they kill you or die.“You could ask,” I say, hoping he can’t hear the new edge to my voice. “I’m sure I’d grant it.”“But then I’d h
At the front edge, Vedran’s brow knits in concentration. He is weaving a massive spell with the help of one woman in the village who knew a few charms. It doesn’t have to hold for long—just long enough for us to launch all our ships before anyone on the far side notices we’re moving—but clearly, eve







