LOGINMaeveCassian sighed. "I was afraid you were going to say that."I looked at him. "Why?""Because every time you start asking questions, someone dies, confesses to treason, or gets thrown through the air.""That has happened one time.""Fifteen people still counts as fifteen separate incidents."Ronan took the Council summons from my hand before I could throw it at him. Probably smart.Theron stepped closer to the desk. "Six days."Ronan reread the letter. "They expect us to appear as ordered.""Yes.""They can expect whatever they want."Theron's mouth twitched. "I assumed that would be your response."I folded my arms. "Can they actually order us?"Theron looked at me. "Not in the way they're wording it.""Explain."He pointed toward the stack of Gideon's records. "Caine is sovereign territory. You don't receive Council grants, loans, infrastructure funding, or military support.""Neither does Ward," Ronan said."Correct." Theron nodded. "The Council has considerable political autho
MaeveThe tin box arrived shortly after noon the next day. I knew because Cyn burst into Ronan's office without knocking, holding the mud covered thing in both hands like it contained either buried treasure or something capable of exploding."We have it."Ronan was on his feet before I could put down my coffee. "Cassian?""Coming.""Ruan?""Also coming."Cyn placed the box carefully on the desk.I stared at it. "That's remarkably unimpressive."It was small. Rust along the edges. Waxed cloth still clinging to one side. Three years buried inside the foundation of an abandoned hunting lodge had not been kind to it.Ronan looked at me. "You expected Gideon's secrets to glow?""After this week? Honestly, yes."The office door opened again. Cassian walked in covered in dirt. Ruan followed looking marginally cleaner."You found it exactly where she said?" Ronan asked.Cassian dropped into a chair. "Loose foundation stone. Rear room. Inside the wall.""The Cross escort?""Never entered the l
RonanNobody moved. Mara sat inside the truth circle looking far too calm for a woman who had just announced she might possess evidence connecting Gideon Cross to a Council intermediary.Maeve leaned both hands against the table. "Where?"Mara looked at her. "Cross territory."Of course.Cassian sighed. "I was hoping for something convenient. Like beneath your mattress.""I wasn't foolish enough to hide stolen Council records beneath my mattress.""You did infiltrate an Alpha's home after murdering his family."Mara's mouth tightened. Maeve ignored both of them. "Where in Cross?""An old hunting lodge near the eastern ridgeline."Ruan would know the area. Probably better than I did."Occupied?" I asked."Not when I left.""When was that?""Three years ago."Maeve stared at her. "You hid this before coming here?""Yes.""Why?"Mara hesitated. The truth circle warmed beneath her chair. Her jaw clenched."Because I knew Gideon would kill me eventually."The heat faded. Maeve's expressio
MaeveI slept for three hours.Apparently becoming an accidental Queen, throwing fifteen wolves through the air, surviving a drive by family reunion, and attending a blood debt feast still wasn't enough to convince my body to sleep longer. Rude.By the time Ronan and I reached the lower cells, Cassian was already waiting outside Mara's interrogation room with coffee. The stone corridor smelled faintly of damp and old iron, the kind of smell that clung to the walls no matter how many torches burned. He held one cup out to me. I stared at it."For me?""You look terrible.""That's incredibly sweet.""You're welcome."Ronan took the cup from my hand, smelled it, then handed it back. I looked at him."Did you just check my coffee for poison?""Yes."Cassian tipped his head back toward the ceiling. "We're doing this now?"Ronan opened the door. "We're doing this forever."Unfortunately, I believed him.Mara was already seated inside a new truth circle that Elowen had put in last night.No
RonanIt took Caine approximately twelve minutes to pretend an invading royal army had not interrupted dinner. I loved my pack. I also suspected every one of them was insane.Tables had been righted. Food reheated. Children reclaimed whatever seats they had abandoned when the horns sounded. Someone had restarted the music. The night air still smelled faintly of smoke and crushed grass where the fighting had been, but the fire pit blazed on as though nothing had ever tried to put it out.Gemma stood behind one of the serving tables threatening bodily harm against a warrior who had apparently taken three servings before everyone else had eaten. Normal. Almost.Maeve sat beside me with a plate she had barely touched. I looked at it. Then at her."Eat."Her eyes narrowed. "Don't start.""You haven't eaten.""I've had a busy evening."I pushed the plate closer. She stabbed a potato with unnecessary aggression. Satisfied, I looked away.The empty chair remained at the end of the central tab
MaeveFor several seconds after the last Silver Crown wolf disappeared beyond the western markers, nobody moved. Not them. Not us. Not me. The clearing had gone so quiet that I could hear my own breathing.Then I turned around. And realized every person behind me was still on their knees.Cassian. Torin. Theron. Tyson. Corina. Lyra. Caine warriors. Trackers. Even Soren had one hand braced against the ground as if she had tried to fight whatever I had done and lost.Only Ronan remained standing. My stomach dropped."Oh."Cassian slowly lifted his head. His expression was flat. "Excellent observation, Luna.""Shut up.""I would love to." He glanced pointedly at his knees. "Unfortunately, I'm apparently awaiting royal permission."Fuck. I immediately reached for whatever part of me had pressed them down. The power was still there. Huge. Cold. Waiting. I pulled it back."Get up."The pressure vanished. Everyone moved at once. Some stood quickly. Others staggered. Theron rolled one shoulde







