LOGIN"Open the doors, Captain," I said calmly. "And come inside with me."The Captain nodded, unlatched the heavy brass handles, and pushed both oak doors wide open.The room inside was huge, built for visiting royalty during the old king’s reign. Large glass windows looked out over the castle courtyard, and a massive fire was roaring in a marble fireplace. Soft wool rugs covered the stone floor, and the long dining table in the center of the room was covered in silver platters of roasted meat, fresh bread, cheese, and pitchers of red wine.All twelve of the banished Eastern lords were inside.Ten of them were sitting around the table eating and drinking like they owned the castle again. A heavy-set lord with a thick beard had his boots kicked up on an empty chair, laughing at something the younger man beside him had just said.Only Lord Varis was not eating. He was standing near the fireplace with a silver cup of wine in his hand, wearing the same velvet coat from yesterday, though a high
[POV: Cillian]I stepped out of Kaelen’s bedroom and pulled the heavy oak door shut behind me until the iron latch clicked.For three seconds, I just stood still in the quiet stone hallway and forced my hands to stop shaking.My Lycan was still pacing right behind my ribs, pushing against my skin and begging me to walk down the stairs and tear Lord Varis apart with my bare teeth. Every time I closed my eyes, I did not see Varis. I saw Elian standing in the snow back home, holding onto my leather armor with both hands and begging me not to let his friend die.If that white hemlock had acted the way a normal poison was supposed to act, Kaelen would be lying on a cold slab right now. I would be riding back to the Blackwood with a body tied across a saddle, and I would have to look into my Luna’s eyes and tell him that I failed.Varis had come within five seconds of doing that to Elian.I let out a long, slow breath through my nose and pushed the anger down into the bottom of my chest whe
[POV: Kaelen]My chest felt like it had been split open with an iron wedge.That was the first thing I noticed when I dragged my mind out of the dark. I did not open my eyes right away. I just lay there on my back and tried to figure out if I was actually breathing. My lungs pulled in a slow, shallow breath. The air hit the back of my throat, and a sharp, burning pain shot straight through my ribs, radiating down into my stomach.I let out a low groan and finally forced my eyes open.I was not lying in the mud at the border. I was not looking up at the black branches of the forest trees or listening to the Southern mercenaries laugh as they walked away with my broadsword. I was staring at the familiar gray stone ceiling of my own bedroom in the Eastern keep.The room was warm. A fire was burning steadily in the large stone hearth across the floor. I tried to lift my right hand, but my arm felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. I looked down and saw thick white linen bandages wrapped t
[POV: Cillian]Varis’s hands went limp against my wrist. His boots stopped kicking against my chest, and his eyes rolled back as his windpipe began to crush under my fingers.In the corner, the old city healer was pressing his back flat against the stone wall. The Northern Garrison Captain stood directly over him with his heavy steel sword raised above his head, ready to bring the blade down on the old man's neck.Outside in the courtyard, I could already hear my soldiers shouting and the terrified screams of the eleven banished lords as Commander Vane's men dragged them off their horses and threw them onto the stones.I squeezed my hand tighter, ready to snap Varis’s neck in half.Crack.The sound did not come from Varis's throat. It came from the heavy wooden table right behind me.I froze.A loud, violent gasp tore through the quiet room. It sounded like a drowning man breaking through the surface of a frozen lake.The wood of the table groaned loudly as Kaelen’s massive back arche
The words hit me harder than any blade I had ever taken in battle.My throat closed up. I walked slowly to the edge of the wooden table and put my hand on Kaelen's broad shoulder. His skin was already turning cold.I had ridden two horses to death. I had torn across three hundred miles of frozen dirt without sleeping. I had promised Elian in the courtyard that I wouldn't let Kaelen break his word. And I had walked in five seconds too late to even tell Kaelen goodbye.Beside the table, the old man in the gray robes quickly stepped backward, dropping his wet cloth into the wooden bowl. He lowered his head and let out a loud, shaky sigh."It is a terrible tragedy," the strange doctor said, his voice trembling as he looked at the Captain. "The Southern poison was simply too deep in his blood. His heart gave out before the mint could open his lungs. We tried our best."Next to him, the nobleman in the velvet coat—Varis—covered his mouth with his hand. "No," Varis whispered, shaking his hea
[POV: Cillian]The brown warhorse beneath me stumbled hard on the frozen dirt road.White foam dripped from its mouth, and its sides heaved so violently I could feel the animal's ribs shaking against my boots. This was the second horse I had ridden into the ground since leaving the Blackwood."Keep moving!" I shouted over my shoulder.Behind me, fifty of my best riders pushed their mounts forward. Nobody complained. Nobody asked for water or a five-minute rest. In the middle of the tight formation, two of my largest soldiers rode right beside Gaius, holding onto the old healer's leather belt so he wouldn't fall off his saddle from exhaustion.We had not stopped once. When the first set of horses started giving out at dawn, we rode straight into the Northern border outpost, jumped off their backs before they even stopped moving, and took every fresh warhorse in the stables.I did not care about the cold wind hitting my face. I did not care that my hands were numb inside my leather glov
The first thing I felt was cold. A heavy, damp chill seeped straight into my bones, sucking the life right out of me.Where was I? I tried to move, and a sharp, metallic clink echoed through the darkness. My breath caught. I pulled my arms toward my chest, stopping short as heavy iron chains bit
Several people screamed. I slapped both hands over my mouth to keep from making a sound, biting down on my own palm so hard I tasted blood. My heart was beating so fast against my sore ribs that I thought my chest was going to split open. Panic. Blind, total, animal panic. My body got hot fast.
My ribs ached before I opened my eyes. That was how every morning started. Pain. A dull, steady ache burned on my left side where Alpha Thorne had kicked me two days ago. My crime? I hadn't scrubbed the blood out of the training mats quick enough. It wasn't just that my ribs ached. The screaming
The solid rock cracked under his fist, sending a shower of dust to the floor. The force of it snapped something back into place inside my head. Raw, pure fear cut through the fever haze. I pulled my hand back, pressing it tightly against my chest. What am I doing? I thought, panic cutting throug







