LUCASThe entire thing had been a trap.The realization came too late. Smoke choked my lungs, and I could feel the heat of the manor seeping up through the walls. I had to leave—but a stampede of footsteps was making their way up the foyer steps.Guards were coming.“Impostor!” they were shouting. There is an impostor within the castle!” I looked around for another means of escape, but the sitting room was complete void of any other doors. I curled an elbow around my face and charged at the only exit in sight: a window, overlooking the yard below.The glass shattered on impact and I flung myself out with a rainfall of sharp, glittering shards. The cold night air wrapped me like chilly silk, and my boots hit the ground with a jarring impact.Glass shards rained down around me—one or two nicking me in the back. One stung at my ear and I swatted the feeling away. But as I gathered myself, I looked up to find my efforts at escape were fruitless.A group of guards encircled me well before
LUCASI crouched behind the shadows of a large trunk as the front gates of Benjamin’s manor opened. Benjamin was just outside of them, speaking with a vampire in the dark cloak of night.I could not piece apart the identity of the second vampire. They appeared to be clad entirely in black, and the moon—sheathed in clouds—was of little help at all.I groused to myself, feeling a steam leave my chest. Nicasa was wrong after all. Benjamin wasn’t supposed to be at his manor tonight. He was meant to be gone while bustles of workers rushed in and out through his manor doors. It should have meant easy access to his entire estate.It should have meant an easy task at hand for yours truly.Then again, nothing was ever easy in this cursed place. Perhaps it was an unplanned meeting. Perhaps Benjamin’s plans had gone awry. From the look on Benjamin’s face, he seemed terribly inconvenienced by the stranger.I waited until Benjamin and his mysterious guest turned to enter the building—then I moved.
XAVIERCaesar’s brow creased in irritation. “Well,” he said with a daring laugh. “I must say, son—you’ll need much more practice improving your manipulation skills if you wish to fabricate such stories.” His voice grew rigid and stony—but encapsulated. He was full of bridled outrage.“And even if she was the daughter of Noah Wilson, the girl is a traitor by design. Mating her was a poor choice for the reigning Alpha of the Silver Moon pack.”It was amusing to watch him crumble—that much I could admit. But I knew my father’s tells. I knew how his brow twinged when something wedged beneath his skin—or how his left eye twitched when he could not properly bottle his rage.I had seen those looks of his my entire life.“Speaking of which,” I continued, “I’ve always wondered one thing—I suppose I never got around to asking you. What crime did Noah actually commit to be labeled a traitor? As far as I’m aware, there was no evidence proving he’d ever done anything to betray the Silver Moon pack
XAVIERThe slow walk to Caesar’s tent felt much like we were attending our own funeral march.Amelia held steady at my side, refusing to falter a single step behind. The moment we entered the tent, chatter enveloped us. On the far side, Caesar, Felix and the councilors were all seated at a vast banquet table, with a luscious feast set out before them.They were laughing, indulging in wine, chatting to one another as if there wasn’t a war going on outside these paper-thin walls.The moment my father saw me, a slow smile cut across his face. He rose from his seat and came toward me.I knew that smile too well to be fooled by the glamor of it. Caesar’s smile was one that didn’t reach his eyes. A smile that felt more like a wolf, baring its fangs. That smile was dangerous, and I fully anticipated I would feel the cut of it any minute now.“Son,” he said in greeting. “What a thing it is to see you. A fierce adversary, if I do admit. It seems I raised you well.”He clapped his hands at two
VALERIEXavier wished to listen to me talk—so I did, for as long as I was able to. I talked and I talked, about everything I could think of. About the lovely gardens around the castle grounds, of the way Vampires feigned the sun with the illusions on their ceilings and walls. It was almost as if they missed their mortal lives. The way the little things—like the appliances in the corner of the room—reminded me of home. How dinner had been surprisingly good every night.I left out the part about the sex-crazed parties in the hallways and the near orgy we’d walked into on our arrival. I didn’t want to give Xavier any more reason to worry than necessary.I spoke until Diya’s link was exhausted. Until I could feel the threads of it pulling from me, leaving me bare and thin. Xavier must’ve heard it in my voice as well, because he urged me to rest.And when I ended the link—though reluctantly, albeit—Lucas was gone. I hadn’t heard him leave, but he wasn’t anywhere in the chamber.He didn’t r
VALERIEI glanced up from the book I was reading to take a peek at Lucas from over the pages.He was lifting a goblet of wine to his lips while reading on the couch beside me.I’d been so comfortable in his presence that I hadn’t noticed just how quiet the room had become. He wasn’t paying any mind to me, so I took advantage of his distraction to trace the lovely lines on his face.My gaze went still on his lips. They were still glistening from the wine in his glass, and I felt heat crawl up my face as the memories of last night resurfaced.The kiss.I’d…kissed him. Or, rather—he’d kissed me. But I’d asked for it, which was almost worse.I finally understood why the Aunts had warned us about alcohol back at the shop. Why they told us to be especially careful around wine and liquor. They were right when they said it could make you do unimaginable things.But they were also right about something else.Kissing a vampire had felt good.My memories of it were bleary at best, but a shiver