ndria

neath him like dirt. He had once shoved a servant girl aside for walking too slowly in his path and laughed

e if I was still his to command. He wanted to know if the cellar had broken me or merely

ade," I said,

lf look small, frail. Wounded. I let my hair fall loose around my face, tangled a

on me with a look of smug superiority. In his hands, he held a lavishly carved wooden box. I n

da heard of your... unfortunate incident. He sends his rega

f my reliance on his master's favor. He thought I was the same foolish girl, desperate for Daryle'

, as if he were not worth the effort of direct eye contact. I clutched the b

quiet but strained. "Plea

e was almost worth the performance-confusion, disbelief, a flicker of

ll over-not many, just enough to trace a pale line down my cheek-but my voice, when I spoke,

was a broken, weeping mess. Let Daryle think his rejection had shattered me so completely that I could not

uttered, his Alpha pride affronted

ay his name with contempt. I said it like a wounded lover who could not bear to hear it spok

tainly. He had not expected this-this quiet, weeping retreat that offered him nothing to push against. He h

ed. My face hardened into cold, expressionless marble. I wiped my cheeks wi

re. He would not suspect the girl who could not look at a gift box without weeping was already mapping out his downfall. But I had also kicked the hornet's nest. Daryle's pride was a fragile, monstrous thing. He would

I needed power. A

t care. From this moment, any message, any gift, any word from Daryle Estrada is to be turned away at the door. Quietly. Withou

gleaming with fierce

were stiff with indignation. Good. Let him carry that indignation back to his master. Let Daryle hear that I had

f my old life. Now I h

thing you can about Eleanor's personal maid, Martha Hicks. Her habits, her friends,

udden shift in focus, but sh

lmost killed me with a poisoned salve. Christal had tried to destroy me with a lie. Daryle had sent hi

. Martha Hicks knew where Eleanor kept her poisons, her papers, her weaknesses. If I could turn her, I could turn the entire game. O