FAZER LOGIN[POV: Cillian]I stood in the center of Kaelen’s bedroom and stared at the fire burning in the stone hearth.The logs popped loudly, spitting orange sparks against the black brick. Behind me, Kaelen did not move. He was lying flat on his back, his heavy chest rising and falling in a slow, deep rhythm. Gaius had given him a strong dose of poppy milk to knock him out while his body fought off the last of the poison. He was safe. He was going to live.I turned away from the fire and cracked the knuckles on my right hand. The sound snapped sharply in the quiet room.I hated sitting still.My instincts were restless. They pushed hard against my ribs, demanding action. When a soldier knows an enemy is close by, he does not stand in an empty room and wait. He moves.I had sent Commander Vane South with twenty of my best riders. They were tracking the mercenaries who carried Kaelen’s stolen sword and Lord Varis’s gold. When Vane caught them, he would bring the mercenary captain back to this c
"I remember your father," I told him, stepping so close he had to lean back against the mattress. "He was a loyal man, and he knew how to keep his mouth shut. I need to know if his son can do the same thing."The boy swallowed hard. He looked terrified, but his fingers tightened around the ruby. He knew what that ring could buy for his mother. "I can, my Lord.""Good," I said quickly, keeping my voice down to a harsh whisper. "I cannot write this down. If the Northern guards search you and find a note, they will kill both of us. You have to memorize exactly what I tell you, and you have to do it the exact second you leave this room.""Yes, my Lord," the boy whispered back, his face turning pale."Walk out of the castle gates," I instructed him. "Do not run. Walk normally so the Northern guards do not look at you. Go straight down into the lower city docks. Find the tavern called the Broken Anchor. Ask for a man named Pike. He runs a gang of cutthroats called the River Hounds."The boy
[POV: Lord Varis]The loud laughter coming from the dining table made my stomach turn over.Lord Kelan was holding up a silver cup of wine, completely drunk. He was talking loudly about how he was going to spend the royal gold when King Kaelen finally gave him his estates back. The other lords cheered and drank with him, slapping the heavy wood of the table with their hands.Idiots. They were all dead men walking, and they did not even know it.I stood by the large glass window, keeping my back to the room. My hands were shaking inside my sleeves. I grabbed the edge of the stone sill and squeezed the rock until my fingers hurt, forcing my body to stand completely still.I looked down at the cobblestones in the courtyard. The yard was quiet. A few stable hands were walking horses near the gates, but nothing else was moving.Everything was too quiet.I ran Cillian’s words through my head again. You are not going back to your townhouses today. You are completely safe under my roof.I loo
"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
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
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







