LOGINThe guards reached for their swords. One of the attackers climbed through the broken window, knife already drawn.I grabbed the silver serving tray from the floor and hurled it at his wrist. The blade clattered away. I closed the distance before he could recover, drove my forearm into his throat, and kicked the side of his knee. He dropped hard. I took the secondary knife from his belt, forced him onto his stomach, and kept my weight on him just long enough to make sure he stayed down.A guard stared at me."What?" I snapped.He looked away. "Nothing.""Then move."A second man came through the window with a short sword. I yanked a chair into his path. He stumbled. I slammed my shoulder into his ribs and took both of us to the glass-strewn floor. His blade came down. I caught his wrist with both hands, the edge hovering too close to my face. He was stronger. For a second the steel refused to move.I twisted until something in his wrist gave. The sword loosened. I ripped it free and st
I woke to the sound of a drawer closing. For a few seconds, I didn't remember where I was. Then I felt the Gleipnir Collar against my throat and remembered everything. The Queen. The deal. Xavier. I sat up. I saw Xavier standing by the wardrobe, already dressed in black. A slim travel bag sat at his feet. He was checking the last few things before leaving. He hadn't woken me. "You're leaving." He glanced over. "Yes." "Now?" "Within the hour." He closed the bag and set it beside him. "The transport is waiting. The Vanguard meeting was moved forward." I pushed the covers aside and stood. The stone floor was cold against my bare feet. "And me?" Xavier turned toward me. "You are required to see the Queen this morning." "Required?" I glared at him. "Why?" "Three reasons." He picked up the bag. "One, you're still officially my guest, and guests don't ignore a direct summons. Two, she's fucking bored, and bored queens become dangerous. Three—" The corner of his mouth
I stepped out of the library and into the corridor.Two figures were waiting near the entrance to the formal gardens. The Queen stood between them. She looked at me as if she had been expecting me."Ravenna."I stopped. "Your Majesty."Her eyes flicked down to the garnet at my throat."Walk with me. The garden is quiet this morning. I prefer conversations without walls that listen."I followed her into the snow. Her attendants stayed a few steps behind."You can drop the act," she said.I glanced at her. "I don't know what act you mean."The Queen stopped beside a stone bench overlooking the frozen pools."I used to make that same face."I said nothing."I thought I could survive by pretending to be less dangerous than I was."My pulse jumped.Ciel stirred.The Queen looked toward the palace."Your father has not changed much. He still thinks everything can be handled quietly.""I don't know what you mean."Her eyes came back to mine. "Yes. You do."The wind moved through the black pi
I needed a quiet place to think.I found the library by instinct. It took up most of the western end of the second floor. Black shelves filled the walls. A long oak table sat in the middle of the room. No hearth was lit. Only a desk lamp burned at the far end.Xavier entered in a black shirt and coat. The mark on his lower lip was still visible."You chose the library.""It is harder to fuck someone into silence between bookshelves."A faint smile touched his mouth. "You would be surprised."I kept my hands on the table."I read the messages again. Brie's clinic was not a warning strike. They went in to erase it. Roman is alive because someone hesitated. They are using my name like it still carries weight in the Pit.""You offered to save them," I said. "In exchange, I wear what you choose, stand where you place me, and play the marked Omega through the Winter Royal Ball and the investigation.""Yes.""That is not a partnership. You
The east wing was colder after the banquet. My dress did nothing against it.His jacket slipped from my shoulders and landed on the floor.I left it there. "You used me."He leaned against the door. "Yes.""Everything." I swallowed. "Luminara. Here. The collar. The dress. The seat at that table.""Yes."A short, ugly laugh escaped me. "You stood there while the King asked me whose side I was on. You already knew.""I was on whatever side made you look stronger.""You were on the side that kept you alive and visible," he said. "There is a difference.""Not from where I was sitting."Xavier pushed off the door. I did not move."This is how my world operates," he said. "I told you the truth in front of them. Most men would have softened it afterward. I will not.""My ruined Omega." I threw the words back at him. "You say it like it is affection. It is just another chain."He reached for me. I turned away. His fingers caught my jaw anyway, forcing my head back, and his mouth was on mine.
The banquet hall at Wintersaint was designed to make you feel tiny. Everything was black stone and high ceilings, with long tables covered in white and silver. Everyone in the court wore dark colors—charcoal, bone, midnight—and they followed that rule closely. Nobody wore anything bright.Then I walked in wearing blood red.The dress had an open back and was definitely a statement piece. I was wearing the Gleipnir Collar, too—heavy platinum with wolf heads and a huge red garnet that felt like a second heartbeat against my skin. As we walked through, people stopped talking. They looked at the collar first, then the dress, and then the guy with his hand on my back.Xavier looked carved for this room. When a draft cut across the hall he slipped his jacket over my shoulders and leaned in close enough that only I heard him."Keep it on," he murmured. "Later I am going to take it off you while that collar stays locked exactly where it is. I wa







