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
Hollis“No, anchor your fingers at your ear.” I yank Ty’s elbow back until his fingers are at least near his ear. The young noble from Tansy Beach trembles.‘It’s like he’s never lifted a fucking weapon.’ I growl at Zain.‘He probably hasn’t,’ Zain replies. ‘Tansy Beach is weird about human fighting
HollisI watch Candace disappear through the still mostly leafless trees, and that thing in my chest crunches. Fuck that. I crunch it back. That was… fuck, I don’t know, a mistake. A lapse in judgment. But sleeping with her makes sense. It’s all animal. Wishing she would stay? That’s unacceptable.S
Hollis“Come in?” Candace calls hesitantly through the door of one of the lesser guest rooms.I suck in a deep breath. I can smell her even through the door, blackberries and sunshine. Knocking—rather than just tearing down the door like I wanted to the second Lord Gunnar told Father about the addit
Still, no one answers. He starts to open his mouth. I scrape together a few shreds of confidence to give the blessing I seriously doubt my younger siblings will volunteer for.“I will.” Mother’s voice, louder than I’ve heard it in a long time, echoes from within the walls of her prison wagon.“No—”







