tte

ater. The triumphant warmth in my chest

nfusion, his chilling silence, the way he'd said "the Lord Regent will see you now" as if speaking of

m," I breathed

I am is irrelevant. What matters is

reports. I've seen the girl from a distance-a trembling creature who couldn't meet a servant's eyes, let alone

verness, my performance-it hadn't saved me. It had cond

voice cracking. "I just...

erate lie of a cornered spy. "Tell me, who sent you? The Va

for an answer. His p

nd my arm. His grip was like iron.

e door. Behind it was only darkness. A black, desc

his voice laced with cruelty, "pe

ved me

led down a short flight of stone steps, my body hitting the cold floor

hind me, plunging me into abs

n. My hands trembled violently as I pushed against the floor-not just from fear, but from the poi

hit the cold, damp stone wall. Fear, pur

sin. They'd thrown me in a

ead. "Let Crescent ask you."

e dull thuds the only sound in the dead silence-until

ll wolves did-and hit nothing. Of cou

to exist. Every second was

smell

l of a large predator, heavy w

ting stron

and the back of my

vy breathing, somewhere in

he sharp click-scrap

so hard I thought it would break.

onfined space, so powerful it vibrated throu

O

he brief, disorienting rush, I saw them-two enormous, glowing golden eyes, suspended in the darkness. And b

or's musk, the eyes that burned like embers in the dark-