DaneThe room felt strange—too empty, too clean. I stepped in, the heavy oak door thudding shut behind me, and stood alone in the middle, boots cold on the stone floor. The place was absolutely sparkling. It was clean. The guards had scrubbed it clean of blood, bodies, and all signs of the night's chaos. Bolt torchlight now added soft shadows along the walls, but my eyes were fixed on one point: on the spot where he fell, neck opened wide by Lusia's desperate thrust. Polished from his blood-soaked form, the stone waxed gleaming, yet I could still see it—blackening from under him, with slow-motion life leaving him and his twitching empty palm remaining one last time. Gritting my teeth, I tried hard to stare until the truth would rise from the cracks.Who was he? What had Kiara promised him? The questions gnawed at me, sharp and relentless, while the floor beneath was a mockery of silence.A flicker of movement brought me back from the abyss—a shadow darted fast and fleeting past the
Dane There was blood everywhere. Blood flows on the floor, blood on her hands, blood all around her. Lusia lay sprawled, gasping for breath, ungainly, suspended, with uneven breaths. The other body's corpse lay nearby, neck laid open, and the sword she had thrust in him sprightly glinting under torchlight. My head hurt. Unconsciously, the image of my dead mother flickered behind my closed eyes, but I crushed it and focused on the task ahead. The healer lay dead outside; Kiara was gone. Lusia—damn it, she was something! I kneeled beside her, the cold stone floor chilling me through the trousers, and slid my hands beneath her shoulders. She was limp and slack against me as I hoisted her upright to a sitting position. Her head lolled forward, dark strands of hair sticking to her sweat-slicked face, all too in tune with her dying strength: slack muscles that seemed barely able to hold her together. I braced her all the more firmly in my grip, her blood warmly flowing into my palms. S
KiaraThe piercing night air brushed against my skin as I ran across the castle grounds with silent boots on the humid dewy grass. Like a ghost, I had slipped out of Dane's chamber. I left Lusia, bleeding and shattered. The corpse of the stranger lay cold on the floor. The chaos I had brewed was still rippling with the sounds of guards shouting from afar and the deliciously dull roar of the enraged mob. Perfect. Dane would be chasing shadows while I drifted into the dark. My dagger felt heavy, the blade clean yet eager for blood. I had accomplished my aim: first, a chink in his armor, second, a wound to Lusia's mind. Now to simply vanish. Halfway to the outer wall, when a hand crushed down on my arm and yanked me back hard. My breath hissed, anger flaring as I spun with my dagger, slashing viciously upward. Whoever had the nerve to touch would soon rue it—the blade was a silver flash traveling in an arc right to the flesh, but the firm grip caught my wrist with vicious force haltin
Dane As I stormed down the castle's halls, the darkness engulfed me as my heels kissed the stone floor, and my heart thumping frantically in my chest. The air was thick with stale smells, the flickering light from the torches scarcely piercing the dark wall of shadows before me. I had felt it: the invitation, the diversion. Now, every unhurried step toward my room was punctuated by a frantic race against something that I could not name but could damn well feel. Kiara's presence lingered in my mind mostly as a sharp scent, venomous in intent, telling me she had been here. The rabble outside was nothing compared to what she could have done here indoors.I rounded the last corner, my stride quickening, more forceful when I saw it—smeared dark and wet blood—just outside my doorpost. Glistening dully in the halftime gloom, the jagged line of blood froze me in place. I caught my breath in a hard hitch, with a snarl on my lips as I took in the gruesome sight splayed before me. A body cru
DanePresent day. A shivering man bearing a flickering torch in the darkening courtyard as his only illumination asked one weak and irrelevant question. Had you come to kill my father? That little spark fire of defiance was already extinguished by the weight of my presence. Looking into those erstwhile broad watery eyes, I lost all hearing from the murmurs of the crowd behind him. What did a hundred fools with torches and borrowed rage stirred up by Kiara's lies mean to me? My patience went over the edge like a dry twig yielding under pressure."You know nothing" rolled out of me, deep and cold, like a blade of sound cleaving through the night. It wasn't deafening, and it needn't have been. It settled like lead into their bones, visibly sending shivers down their spines. I could see their shoulders hunched; I could see the gasping breaths."And therefore, you have no right to stand before me and spill filth." Before the words finished drifting away, I was practically there. My sword,
Dane Twenty-one years ago. The room was cold. Cold like a penetrating chill that flows into the marrow and settles down for a long. Bare stone walls, gray and unyielding, were an asset to my prison; only a flickering torch thrown high above me allowed light to spill away from them. I was a boy—some eleven or twelve years, maybe—with a pair of legs as white as the moon, suspect quaking with only the weight of manifest horror. The air was thick with dampness from the earth, mixed with something sharper, something that spoke of presence: in a far-off corner, a hare was hiding, matted brown fur streaked with dirt and large, wide round eyes that seemed to glint lithely in the darkness. It remained there unmoving, staring at me, the breath shallow, like the angry, heaving of a chest. I held it lightly, bow smooth and sturdy in wood, a challenge for my strength to draw it. An arrow lay there as if in its rightful place, worn and scuffed, dull but for a faint glimmer. Above, an eye-the ca
Dane“Sir. The mob is getting furious,” one of my guards asked. “What do we do?”I scratched my chin as I thought of our next move. I was seated on the throne bathed in silence before the guard came in. I was thinking of Kiara and how she had been able to infiltrate the castle and also bring half of the pack towards us in rage. What lie had she told them that they could possibly believe? She was good. She had done better than I expected. Well, I didn’t expect any less from her. She was always a nuisance. Every single place she went. And it was exhausting. I was tired of having to put up with her. Every single time that I thought I got rid of her, she came back stronger. I wondered if I would be able to lock her up in the dungeon this time. No. There wouldn’t be a need for that. I was going to make sure I crushed her throat when she was brought to me. The only judgment I was going to give her was a swift one: death. “Where is Kiara? Have you found her?” I demanded ignoring his earlie
LusiaMy heart was thumping hard against my chest as I felt the cold blade kissing the back of my neck. The man in the black. I had forgotten about him because I had been too focused on Kiara. That had cost me to drop my guard, and he had taken advantage of that. And now, my mind was racing as I thought of what to do next. I was stuck between running away or going after Kiara. Kiara was standing before me, and through the dim light of the crescent moon that rushed into the room, I could see the sinister grin on her face. She felt she had won this, but it wasn’t over. I wasn’t through with her. She had done the worst thing ever. She had brought up my family. My dear parents. And now, I was wondering how she knew about this. What had prompted her to come here? Was it just to taunt me? No. She wouldn’t risk her life for that. I knew Kiara. She was smarter than that. “You know that time is running out, Kiara,” I reminded her. “I wonder how much longer you are going to stay. You are want
LusiaHalf a second passed as I readied myself to retaliate for the action of Kiara. Kiara shot her entire hand and caught me by my neck in a vice-like grip. The moment she applied pressure, all air was gone from my lungs and trapped in my chest; those sharp nails were digging in. I fought against her wrist. I could feel my scratched and daubed nails helplessly sliding over her flesh. But she seemed adamant against my protests. There was a fire in her eyes, fueled by an abyss of hatred and rage: deep within, something like an aerial jet flash of madness flickered among all that hatred. With my lungs shrieking, I fought for air. “How dare you,” her voice growled a guttural hiss that penetrated straight to my spine. “Talking to me, a Lycan, like that? Are you degrading me? A common werewolf, a filthy little mutt like you?” Her grip tightened, darkness blotting my vision, and my head felt as if it was splitting open. The world was spinning, and I held on for dear life. “That’s all yo