INICIAR SESIÓNNatalia’s POVHe didn’t hesitate.The moment I swung the rod toward him, his hand shot out and closed around my wrist like a vise. My arm wrenched sideways, and I felt the bones grind together under his grip, and the rod fell. It clattered somewhere on the stone floor, rolling away into the darkness
Andrei’s POVThe room was warm. The bed was soft and plush, the pillows made of feathers and velvet. Everything smelled familiar, the kind of scent that you recognize from a past life but can never put a finger on its source.Home.The woman was laying next to me, just as she always did. Amber hair
But I would do it, because the alternative was my children going through whatever came next, and that was not something I was willing to consider.I wasn’t certain yet. That was the only reason I was still trying so hard now. Because there was still a small part of me that thought that there must be
Natalia’s POVThey came for me after what felt like a full day. I say felt like because it really could have been any amount of time, or none at all. But someone did bring me some slop to eat at some point, so that had to have meant that at least a full cycle had passed.I was on my feet before the
Natalia’s POVWaking up the second time was so much worse than the first time.The first time I’d woken in this cell, at least I had had the brief mercy of not knowing where I was, even if it was over quickly.That feeling was gone now.I opened my eyes to the same black ceiling and knew exactly whe
Andrei’s POVThe interrogation chamber was in the lowest level of the castle, two floors below the cells.It was a practical room that I’d designed myself. It had a stone floor, stone walls, and a single drain in the center of the floor that served an obvious purpose. Just above the drain, a chair w
I bristled a little again, but Andrei nodded understandingly. “That’s a fair observation, Dan. Truthfully, Natalia and I had a…” He glanced at me, and his eyes softened. “A rough past. I’ll admit that I wasn’t a good husband, and I didn’t give her the chance to feel protected from outside threats in
Natalia’s POVAfter visiting the metalsmith, Andrei and I headed straight back to the estate—particularly, we went to the training grounds to test the metalsmith’s theory.It still felt insane to imagine that an inanimate object would be capable of bonding to a person based on bodily fluids, but the
The battle ended as quickly as it had begun. The surviving rogues, seeing their companions dead or dying, took off back into the forest. Our warriors gave chase, but I could already tell they wouldn’t catch them. They’d scattered like roaches.Andrei was at my side in seconds, his hands running over
In an instant, however, that single drop took its effect. In the man’s momentary state of shock, I kicked again and twisted away. But there were two of him this time. I think I hit the side of his head with my bare foot, just enough to make him stumble back but not enough to knock him unconscious.A







