Mag-log inOn 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
FinnI grunt as I lift one of the last crates of supplies off the back of the cart at the edge of Tarrin. Something inside shifts heavily against my chest.“I would offer to help,” the driver says, “but there’s a reason I only do the smuggling.” She raises her arms, displaying how thin they are.I s
“Three,” I reply. “You’d hear any alarms raised, and you’ll fit better through a bigger opening.”She scowls at me. “If I—”“Well, that’s not the situation we’re in.” I glance at her over my shoulder, already pale and swaying. “Three, or I’m not going.”She slices a look at me but doesn’t waste the
I drag her closer, reason burning away. She pushes back into me. My legs hit the bed unexpectedly, and we fall.Protect them.I twist, land on my back, and cushion her against the unforgiving straw. Breath gasps from my lungs. Still, I open my eyes to make sure she’s all right.Xandra laughs. Not la
FinnWhen I grabbed Xander in the headlock, I thought his tunic was kind of lumpy. Probably just a side effect of how loosely they wear them under those vests. When Xander climbed onto my back, I thought…well, mostly I thought that he’d set me up to win.Now, with the entire line of my body pressed







