Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 51 - Chapitre 60

ARDEN POV “I am fine,” I said quickly. “The room is cold.” “Your face is pale,” Elias said, watching my face carefully. He pointed toward my neck. “And you have a mark on your throat.” I pulled my collar even higher and picked up a silver scalpel to give my hands something to hold. “Let us focus on the patient,” I said, my voice sharp. “What did the culture dish show?” “The black sludge is shrinking,” Elias said, looking down at his paper notes. “The counter-frequency you applied during the blood-binding worked. The poison is dying off in his bloodstream.” “Good,” I said, looking down the microscope eyepiece. “Then he does not need any more emergency treatments.” “Physically, he is recovering rapidly,” Elias agreed. “His fever broke around four in the morning.” Every time Elias mentioned the King or the fever, the warm spot behind my ribs gave a sharp, painful throb. My skin felt hot under my heavy clothes. I wanted to run back up the stairs. I wanted to see if Ronan was sittin

RONAN POV Fresh tears spilled over her eyelids. She pointed a trembling, accusation-heavy finger at her own chest, her breath coming in ragged, shallow gasps. “I gave up my healing magic for you!” she sobbed, her voice breaking into a harsh cry. “When I bore your son, when I brought Thomas into this world, my blood burned out! I gave away my power so you could have an heir! I sacrificed the one thing that made me useful to the court!” She grabbed the front of my suit jacket, her hands shaking violently as she pulled me closer. Her eyes were desperate, wide, and dark with a deep, frantic terror. “This all happened because I carried your child!” she screamed, her voice echoing off the high stone ceiling. “If I still had my magic, if I had not lost my powers bringing your son into this world, would you have run to her? Would you have left me sitting alone in the dark while you took a convict into your bed?” Every word she threw at me felt like iron spikes driving into my ribs. The g

ARDEN POV“Look at her,” a young noblewoman sneered, stepping right into the middle of the hallway to block my path. “The convict thinks she is a royal lady now.”I stopped, holding my heavy leather satchel tightly against my side.Two other court ladies stood behind her near the marble archway. They both pulled their lace fan handles up to cover their mouths, but their loud laughter echoed off the stone walls.“She is not a lady,” the second woman said, leaning forward so her diamond earrings caught the bright light of the brass wall lamps. “She is just the King’s new toy. Everyone on the seventy-fifth floor knows he threw her away as soon as his fever broke.”My fingers tightened around the leather strap of my satchel until my knuckles turned white. My heart pounded hard against my ribs, but I kept my chin up and my eyes steady.“Step aside,” I said, keeping my voice flat and clear.“Or what?” the first woman asked, crossing her arms over her embroidered dress. “Will you run to the

ARDEN POV I stared down at the small square of paper, forcing my mind to clear.When I had first received the note, it hadn't made any sense. Four heavy Lycan guards had been stationed directly outside my door all night. No stranger could have simply walked down the guarded hallway and slid a piece of parchment under the oak door without being cut down.There was no signature and no return address. By eight o’clock in the evening, hard rain was pounding against my windowpanes, and the wind howled around the stone spires of Aurelian Tower.A sudden, sharp knock rattled the iron hinges of my door.I stood up, my fingers tightly gripping the handle of the scalpel hidden in my coat pocket.“Who is it?” I called out, staying three paces back from the door.“A royal messenger for Dr. Marcellis,” a young, neutral voice replied from the hallway.I walked over to the door, slid the heavy iron latch back with a sharp metallic slide, and pulled the heavy oak door open just a few inches.A pageb

Ronan POV"Get your hands off her!" I roared.I lunged across the oily floorboards and grabbed Garrick by the back of his thick uniform collar. I yanked him backward with all my strength.His hands slipped off Arden’s throat. She crumpled to her knees, gasping for air.I slammed Garrick’s heavy body against the stone wall. Plaster cracked loudly under the impact, and white dust rained down onto his shoulders."Your Majesty—!" Garrick choked out, his eyes bulging."You touched her," I snarled. My claws tore through the front of his wool coat. Every wall of distance I had built between Arden and me since the night of my rut collapsed instantly. My wolf, Aurel, thrashed beneath my skin, demanding blood.I pulled Garrick forward and slammed him into the wall a second time."Ronan, stop!" a voice shouted from the hallway.Lucian burst through the archway, his boots skidding on the spilled lamp oil. He grabbed my upper arms and hauled me back with everything he had."Let me go, Lucian!" I g