My entire body was tense at the news. Werewolves didn’t bite each other to mark each other as mates. We had moon marks. Even if it was a kink, opening your mouth wide to bite someone was a bit extreme. I thought back to the photos from the attacks where people’s throats were ripped out. Francium could have easily done that to Claire if he hadn’t pulled back.I wondered why he had. The drug seemed to take over good sense. Was it because they were mates?My stomach turned. I couldn’t be sure that Francium was a part of the attack, but he could have been aiding them in some ways, transporting bodies, and so on. It would explain the blood and everything else. He was involved. Those pills were probably some version of the substance that was killing werewolves and making them crazy.I thought back to the women who had been recovered and found to be pregnant. What if this wasn’t a new thing? What if werewolf women had been stolen before, impregnated and their children were used to infiltrate

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing or what I was seeing. I leaned back around to be sure I wasn’t wrong, but there was no mistaking it. He was shorter, slimmer, and much paler than Candido, with lighter hair. While he was still taller than Sibyl, even in her heels, he wasn’t as tall as Candido. I pulled my phone out, aiming it at the sight and pressing record. I zoomed in to make sure I got their faces and focused my hearing to get every bit of their conversation.Was he in league with the vampires or just Sibyl’s lover? Who else would benefit from getting Sibyl on the throne quickly other than Norton?“But… But I’m so close,” she said. “Oh, please…”“That’s what you get for being over-eager. What if your father comes out here and catches you?”“Oh, he already knows, you know that,” Sibyl said. “Everything will be fine. Don’t tease me like this.”“And Candido?”“My father will keep him busy for a long time. Hours. Candido’s going to fight to the end to hash out all the details and

I thought he would come out, surely, he heard me, but he didn’t show up. I almost called his name again.Then, I heard Sibyl’s voice. “I didn’t think I was asking anything hard! You should pay for my dress!”“Have your father pay for it,” Candido replied.She growled as I leaned against the wall near his office door. They had to be around the corner. Normally, I would have walked on, but I couldn’t muster up the strength, so I slumped down and simply listened.“You’re being so selfish. I’m not the only one getting married! I’m going to be queen—”“You will never be queen, Sibyl,” he growled. “How many times—”“I’ll be your wife! You can’t deny me my right.”“I can do as I please,” he said. “The budget stands as it’s the only thing your father can afford. Perhaps you should be focused on finding something suitable since you moving up the date so much has eaten through over half of it.”“Why can’t I just be excited to be married to you?” Sibyl asked. “Why are you acting like this is suc

I woke up slowly, alone on the couch and wrapped up in the blanket that I had put over Candido the night before. There was faint light coming through the window. It couldn’t have been any time later than five or six in the morning. My body still ached from the night before, but I didn’t feel as bad as I had. I lifted my head to look at the tray on the table. There was only one, and it was different from the one that had been there last night.I bet it was breakfast for me. I set my jaw. I needed to eat. I needed my strength, but that didn’t mean I had to eat with him or in a way that he knew I was eating. I could sneak out later and get something to eat.My heart lurched at the thought. That man was waiting out in the world somewhere until I knew how to spot him, avoid him, or could capture him, it wasn’t safe. Not with the wedding still on track to happen.That conversation last night was clear cut: Candido knew that Sibyl was unfit to be his wife in any way, and he was still going t

He stared at me as if he was ready to argue about it. “No.”I closed the door behind me. “Why not. Give me a good reason for you to keep that book from me.”He winced. “It’s a family thing.”“Like the passage under the school? Is it connected to that?”I thought back to the passage in the vampire book. “Is this about the blue moon? The day moon?”He flinched and narrowed his eyes. “Where did you hear that term?”I narrowed my eyes. “No.”He bared his teeth. “You’re being childish. ““You’re being unrealistic! If you think saying it’s a family thing is enough to keep me from asking about it.”I glared at him. “You want to keep me out of something that I’m already involved in. you can’t keep treating me like a child. Would you rather me just go into the secret passage—”He scoffed. “You wouldn’t know how to open it.”I took a chance. “I’m sure a few magic words would do it.”He laughed. “You wouldn’t be able to open it no matter what you do. You’re not of an awakened bloodline.”My eyes