LOGINI watched Amelia dress for the council meeting with equal parts pride and concern. Less than twenty-four hours had passed since she'd snapped Lysander's neck in the arena, yet here she was, insisting on returning to royal duties as if yesterday had been nothing more than a minor inconvenience. The bruises from the challenge had already faded to yellow shadows on her skin, but I knew the wolfsbane's poison had taken a toll her body was still recovering from. When I suggested she rest another d
Amelia froze beside me, her hand in mine suddenly cold as ice, her breathing shallow and quick. The rogues’ words hung in the air between us, Sera’s message echoing off the stone walls of the throne room. ‘You are Amala Luna Velasco, and your hands will be stained with the blood of the King.’ The same words that had haunted Amelia since Sera first invaded her mind, now spoken in perfect unison by eight drugged followers of the Voice. I squeezed her hand, hoping to anchor her to reality, to remind her she wasn’t alone in this battle.“It’s not real,” I whispered, my voice pitched low enough that only she could hear. “They’re just mouths for Sera’s voice, nothing more.”She nodded, the movement barely perceptible, but I felt the slight tension in her shoulders ease. Her eyes remained fixed on the rogues, emerald green and full of a determination that never failed to
I woke with a jolt, heart hammering against my ribs, the phantom echo of Sera’s voice still slithering through my thoughts. ‘You are Amala Luna Velasco, and your hands will be stained with the blood of the King.’ The words had followed me into sleep, twisted my dreams into nightmares, and now greeted me in the grey light of dawn. My sheets were damp with sweat, Lukas’s side of the bed already empty. I pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes, trying to push away the lingering horror of Sera’s message. It didn’t matter what she said. It didn’t matter what the Voice wanted. I would not become their weapon.My body still ached from yesterday’s confrontation, muscles protesting as I swung my legs over the edge of the bed. I needed to move, to act, to do something rather than wait for Sera’s next assault on my mind. Athena stirred beneath my skin, her copper presence warming as she pushed forw
I should have been offended, or at the very least surprised, but the absurdity of it, of Lily daring to strike the Alpha Queen and immediately announcing her exclusive rights to do so, broke something loose in my chest. A laugh escaped, dry and brittle and somehow turning into a sob halfway through. I buried my face against her shoulder, my body shaking with the force of emotions I’d been holding back since Sera first appeared in my mind.“They’re trying to make me kill Lukas,” I gasped between sobs, the words tearing my throat raw. “They’re trying to make me kill my mate, Lily. They’re in my head, showing me things, making me see things that aren’t real, and I can’t make them stop.”Lily’s arms tightened around me, one hand coming up to cradle the back of my head with surprising gentleness after her earlier assault. “They won’t win,” she said, her voice fierce with certainty. “Th
I sat on the stone balcony of our bedroom, my arms wrapped around my knees, watching dusk bleed into night across the palace grounds. The crown was gone, set aside on the bedside table, its weight a reminder I couldn’t bear right now. My mind still felt raw, scraped clean by Sera’s intrusion, her voice and her visions leaving ghost images behind my eyelids every time I blinked.The elders had left quickly after the incident, their faces drawn with concern, promises to research more effective protections against the Voice’s mental invasion trailing in their wake. But I’d seen the truth in their eyes—they had no answers, no magic solution for what was happening to me. Whatever protection I’d built when I’d slammed the door in Sera’s face, it hadn’t been enough to keep her out permanently.My fingers still tingled with the phantom sensation of that silver dagger’s hilt, the one from Sera’s vision now made f
Amelia‘s hands suddenly slapped over her temples, her fingers pressing hard enough to leave marks on her pale skin. The room went silent as her head dropped forward, copper hair falling across her face like a curtain. A sound escaped her, somewhere between a whimper and a gasp, her lips forming words too soft for me to catch at first. Then her voice rose, desperate and shaking. “No, no, no, no. I won’t do it, Sera.” My breath froze in my lungs as her eyes squeezed shut, pain evident in every line of her body.I moved without thinking, pushing back from the table so quickly my chair nearly toppled. I pulled her against my chest, one arm around her waist, the other cradling the back of her head. Her body was rigid with tension, muscles locked as if fighting against invisible restraints.“Amelia,” I murmured against her hair. “I’m here. You’re safe.”But she couldn’t hear me, or if she could, the words weren’t getting through. Her voice continued, broken phrases tumbling from her lips. “
Two days passed before Elder Maren arrived, her silver-white hair swept into a severe bun that emphasised her sharp, ink-dark eyes. I’d spent those two days walking the palace grounds with Lukas, letting him fill in the gaps of my missing history, trying to make sense of who, or what, I truly was. But questions still hung in the air between us, unanswered and heavy with implication. The crescent moon pendant at Elder Maren’s throat caught the light as she entered the reading room, the small space suddenly feeling smaller with five people crowded around the ancient oak table.The reading room had always been my favourite space in the palace. Tall windows lined the eastern wall, streaming morning light across polished shelves and worn leather armchairs. Books towered from floor to ceiling, ancient volumes in languages few could still read, their spines cracking with age. It felt appropriate to discuss prophecies in a room steeped in so much history.“You must be Amala Luna,” Elder Maren
The moment I saw the dart protruding from Amelia's shoulder, something in me snapped. Red washed across my vision as Ares surged forward, a tidal wave of protective fury that threatened to drown my human consciousness. My claws extended without conscious thought, teeth sharpening behind lips pull
I gripped the balcony railing so tightly the stone might have cracked beneath my fingers. Nearly six hours of watching Amelia fight through the effects of wolfsbane had left me raw, every muscle in my body coiled with the need to intervene. When Lysander finally shifted, a cruel smile twisted my
I leaned back against Lukas's chest in the bath, water hot enough to steam but still not matching the fire burning through my veins. The wolfsbane felt like liquid metal beneath my skin, each heartbeat spreading the toxin despite the antidotes the doctor had administered. I tried to focus on the
I broke the kiss reluctantly, my body humming with a strange mix of pain and desire. "I love you too," I whispered against Lukas's lips, feeling his hands tighten protectively around my waist. The fight had left me battered but oddly exhilarated. Athena still prowled close to the surface, her cop







