LOGINThird party povSeraphine had worn a path in the rug.Back and forth she went, from the window to the dressing table and back again, her hair loose over her shoulders. Beyond the glass, Thornwick lay quiet under a thin crescent moon, and somewhere below, in the east wing, a woman she despised was probably sleeping soundly between two kings.Pregnant. Pregnant, and declared, and everyone in the kingdom knows.She stopped at the dressing table and gripped its edge, staring at her own reflection. Flawless skin. Elegant bones. A figure that had turned heads in every hall she'd ever entered. And not one king had looked twice.She was the one who was supposed to be pregnant! She thought to herself."She cannot have them," she whispered, to herself. "She cannot."An omega. A plump and plain fat omega, with nothing to recommend her but a pretty laugh and a stubborn chin. Seraphine had spent years being groomed for exactly this, trained in etiquette and diplomacy and every graceful art that m
Third party povThe guards didn't stop her thankfully. The two men posted outside Jasper's cell took one look at her and then immediately stepped to the side."Ten minutes, my lady," said the warrior who was nearer, with a short, uncomfortable bow. "His Majesties gave no order against it. You are his mate, after all."His mate. The words warmed her more than they had any right to. She inclined her head, gracious as a queen, and swept past them as the door groaned open.Prince Jasper lay slumped against the far wall, chained at both wrists, his head hanging. His shirt clung damp to his back. His hair was wet with sweat, and there was a raw, livid mark on his forehead where he'd struck the stone. He didn't look up at her footsteps.Ava stopped a few paces from him, clasping her hands before her, and let the silence stretch."I heard you," she said at last, sweetly.But Jasper said nothing."Did you know that? All the way from the south gallery. I was walking back from breakfast, and I
Effie's PovI looked at Knox's face, and I knew.It was not the denial I had expected. It wasn't rage, outrage, or the cold, level calm they displayed when someone said something stupid. I could see a tinge of guilt, which faded almost as quickly as it appeared, but I'd been watching these two men for weeks. I knew what they looked like when they lied and when they didn't.And this wasn't a lie.Tobias had turned his head away and Knox looked like he wanted to pulverize Jasper, his eyes fixed on a point somewhere above Jasper's head, his hands curled tightly at his sides. Neither of them said a word. Neither of them said that's absurd or that's a lie.Something frightening slid down my spine.Weeks. Weeks of being held, of being fed, of being told to trust them. Of hands in my hair and low voices at my ear and neither of them had thought I deserved to hear about it."Effie," alpha Tobias called out for me.I didn't answer. I turned my back on both of them and faced the man in chains.
Effie's POVThe stairs beneath the east tower were just as cold the second time.I walked between them, one king on either side, with my hand pressed flat against my stomach and my pulse thudding in my throat. Neither of them spoke. Torchlight guttered against the damp stone, and the farther we descended, the more the air smelt of old iron and mildew, until I could taste it on the back of my tongue."You don't have to do this today," alpha Tobias said quietly, somewhere around the last turn. "If you'd rather wait. If you're not ready.""I'm ready.""You're shaking.""I know." I made myself lift my chin. "I'm ready anyway."Alpha Knox didn't answer, but his hand found my elbow and stayed there, warm and steady, all the way to the bottom.The corridor at the foot of the stair was dim and narrow, lined with heavy iron doors. A pair of guards stood stiffly at the far end, wearing a humiliated look of men who had been hauled out of a drugged sleep and made to stand watch over the same door
Effie's povI woke to cold sheets.That was the first thing. Not the light slanting through the curtains, not the faint, pleasant ache settled deep in muscles I'd never known I owned. Just the cold, smooth sheets on either side of me, flat and empty.I stretched out one hand, and found only a pillow.I laid there for a moment, staring at the canopy above me, letting the realization settle. The red silk lay in a crumpled heap on the rug where it had landed hours ago and the bed, which had been warm and crowded and wonderful when I'd fallen asleep, was just a bed again.I rolled onto my side, wincing as every sore, satisfied muscle made itself known, and a slow, helpless smile crept across my face despite everything. Heavens. Both of them. For hours. I pressed my face into the pillow, scarlet to the tips of my ears, and for a moment I let myself simply remember: the slow hands, the murmured praise, Tobias's drowsy hot dick, I said it and I'll say it again.Then the smile faded.They'd p
Third party pov The two guards posted at the head of the east tower stair never saw her coming.They were big men, seasoned warriors who had stood this watch for weeks without incident and when a slim figure in a long gray cloak stepped out of the dark at the end of the corridor, the nearer of the two had barely begun to prepare for a fight before the individual cupped something small and pale in its palm and blew it.A fine, glittering dust swirled up between them. The guard drew breath to shout and tasted it instead. His eyes rolled up, then his knees folded, and he went down heavily against the wall, his companion collapsing a heartbeat after, and the corridor fell silent save for two slow, even breaths.The cloaked figure tilted her head, listening. Nothing stirred in the tower above. Nothing in the stairwell below.She pushed back the hood just far enough to see by, she then crouched to unhook the heavy iron ring of keys from the nearest guard's belt.The stair beneath the east







