로그인I straightened up. My heart was pounding. I looked around the room and for a single, disorienting moment, I had no idea where I was. The black stone walls, the red sky beyond the window, the dead air of this place—none of it felt right. None of it felt like mine. I felt like a man who had woken up m
Andrei’s POVThe collar of my shirt was pissing me off.I had fastened it twice already and it still insisted on sitting crooked, pulling too tight on the left side. I undid it a third time and redid it, slower, watching my hands in the mirror rather than my own face. My reflection had been botherin
Natalia’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 POVI woke up in a warm pair of arms.Familiar arms.When I opened my eyes, I saw green ones staring back down at me. My head throbbed, and I tried to lift it, but Andrei gently pushed me back down.“It’s okay, my love. You’re okay. Just rest.”I blinked against the sudden light. As consci
Natalia’s POVI didn't know how long I'd been locked in that room. Hours? Days? There were no windows, no sunlight, no way to tell if it was morning or night, so I had no way to truly tell.All I knew was that my daughter was getting hungrier. She cried more frequently now, her little face scrunched
The servant’s face fell. “Oh…”I stood. “Where are my children?”“Come! Come!” Eyes lighting up, the servant gripped my hand with his gnarled one and led me out of the throne room. He led me back to the room that had all of those abominations in it; I reached for the scimitar at my hip, but when we
His stare was just as blank as the others. There was nothing left in him, no ghost of the infant that had been there mere moments before. He was the Winter King’s perfect warrior, empty and blank, a mere machine to carry out orders he would never understand.When Damon was finished, he turned to me,







