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
XanderThat night, Father stands from his seat next to me. “As a token of gratitude for how you’ve welcomed us, we would like to offer you this chest, hand-painted by my own mother in anticipation of our trip.”That is our cue. I reach under the table, and at the same moment as my Beta, Corwyn, lift
The corners of his lips twitch. “Depends. How confident are you that I can’t?”A pouch of gold sits in my room back at the castle, but betting gold is a weak man’s game. “Loser makes breakfast for the other.”A true smirk. “Deal. Fastest to down a half-dozen pints?”I stick my hand out, and Finn cla
Finn“Finn!” My Beta, Elian, pounds on my body beneath the covers like I’m a drum.I kick at him without even opening my eyes, and he dodges back with a laugh.“It cannot be time to wake yet.”“Time to wake came and went,” Elian replies. “You are bordering on late, and Kieran wants to speak with you
“Vespera remains asleep.” The bags under Kieran’s eyes show just how difficult a feat that has been to achieve lately. “And I am hoping she’ll remain so long enough that Raven can join us at the welcome, but….”“What do you need from me?” The strangest part of everyone disappearing to various corner







