aide

the edges of my spectral vision. I was fading, being

the door, hi

red my hatred and flung a single thought at him, a seed

Do you truly

parting shot. A ghost's despe

. A barely perceptible reaction, but it was there.

darkness c

ling through an end

I took

violent coughing fit. The stench of rust and cold stone vanished, re

s flew

ce curtains of the bay window, spilling across my face. My vision blurred

hood bedroom in t

d with youth, skin smooth and unblemished. No silver-burn scars. No purpl

t. A wave of dizziness hit me, and I staggered, gripping the bedp

mi

or against the wall, like a drow

mooth, her lips slightly parted in that unguarded way of the young. But her eyes-no, my eyes-were not a c

r chains. Bu

ve. I had

e Summer Solstice festival. The night Ashley and Juliana had

n the door opened. I struggled, I screamed, but no one came. In the morning, they brought the elders-I was kneeling on the rug, my dress torn, Vance snoring besi

t let it h

lway outside my door. Foot

were

the sharpened instincts of a warrior who had died and come

d. I snatched it, its weight solid and reassuring in my hand. I moved to t

t wafted in-stale ale, unwashed leather, and the sour musk of a man who'd been working up his courage w

ard, and Vance Tuc

too close together, a mouth that hung slightly open, revealing yellowed teeth. He was grinning. Not the smirk of a man who liked women, but the grin of a man who liked h

t of coarse dark hair. His hands-enormous, knobby, the nails bitten to the q

et. His voice was a low rumble, thick and wet, like ston

ing my grip on the lamp. B

, his grin widening. The moment he

cted with the back of his head with a sickening thud. The sound was deeply

mpletely blindsided by the attack

he air left him in a wheezing gasp-a high, pathetic sound I drank in like water after a

and slammed the base of the lamp against his temple. Hard. Once.

ody made a heavy, final thump against the floor. I stood over him for

athing. L

n. But I forced myself to stop. A dead man would raise questions. An unconscious one would just be con

nightgown, as if touching him had left a stain I needed to remov

no time to savor the small

soft, manicured lawn of the estate. The grass was cool and damp with dew. I paused for just a m

and the words felt lik

ra

dark woods that bordered our territory. The trees rose before me like a wall of shadows, and I welcome

edge of the property, I didn't see the figure w

m with the force

muscle. My head spun, and for a moment, I was disoriented. Then I felt som

k, already brac

. Moonlight illuminated the scene, and I looked

caught in

e aura of power was already there. And those

an R

wild hair. A frown creased his brow. His gaze swept over me like a blade, cataloging every det

ke a hook caught beneath my ribs. I'd felt it before. In the dungeon. Whe

came unbidden. Without hi

ldn't afford. He was a tyrant. A monster. Whatever he'd done, it wasn't for m

own?" he said, his voice a low,

y-a small defiance, a spark of the wolf I was becoming. I said nothin