LOGINShe couldn’t mean…“Bring their heads back to me,” she said, her voice spilling out through the crack in the door to the study. “Dispose of their bodies however you see fit. But those heads are mine.”“Yes, M’Lady,” a male voice grunted.Heart pounding now, I took a step forward and pushed the door
Bianca’s POVThe palace suited me quite well.I’d gotten used to it more quickly than I expected. At first, the servants looked at me like I was an unwanted outsider, but Aunt Belinda had seen to that. Now, every door was opened for me, every meal served to me exactly to my tastes on a silver platte
There were stalls with posters hanging on them, too. Sign-up booths manned by royal guards. Drawings of my face, Zane’s, and Callum’s.“WANTED,” they read. “CASH PRIZE…”I tried not to look at the amount printed on the posters as we moved through the market, our faces concealed by dark hoods that bl
Liora’s POVMrs. Oakes was dead.Callum told me about what he had seen while we drove along the winding mountain pass, avoiding the main roads to the city. Zane was sleeping in the back seat, snoring quietly.He mentioned it when I suggested contacting her for help in rescuing Marcus. Said that some
“When you were in that ring,” he said, wrapping his arm firmly around my shoulders, “and I saw Daisy take you down…” His throat bobbed. “I’ve never been more scared in my life, Liora. And in that moment, all I could think about was how much I loved you, and how I wish I could take it all back.”I sw
Liora’s POVMy hands shook a little, but I pinned them behind myself as I leaned back against the car. The metal was cool through my clothes, yet somewhat soothing against my flushed skin.“Where’s Zane?” Callum asked, clearing his throat.I shrugged. “He needed some space.” I looked over at him. “H
And then, in the middle of my last class of the week, a note arrived—folded neatly, passed from hand to hand from the front until it landed on my desk with a kind of delicate finality.The principal would like to see you immediately after class.My heart didn’t race, not at first. I wasn’t that naiv
LioraThe front gates of the castle loomed ahead, tall and ancient, carved with snarling wolves and curling vines of power long since sealed into the stone. They didn’t creak so much as they breathed, like they sensed us standing there.And tension.Behind me, I could hear Jessica fidgeting with her
Liora’s POVMy “date” with Zane was in under an hour. I hated that I had to call it that. A date. But he’d insisted, and right now, I needed his help. Not just in keeping my secret a secret, but in getting to retake the field test.I decided not to overdo it while getting dressed. Zane said to dress
Liora’s POV“Zane! What are you doing here?!”I clutched my blanket to my chest, heart pounding. But not because of my compromising position in bed with my guard down. How long had he been standing there without me realizing?Had he heard me speak out loud?He held up one of those cardboard takeout







