ts shouting orders, and the silence that's lef

sound of boots pounding down stone corridors, doors banging shut one after another somewhere deep in the Keep, and

s eyes are hard as flint, his whole body coiled tight, like something wound too far and about to

with in his study just that morning disappear completely. In his

smaller than she wants it to

r peeling off toward a different corridor. But his hand finds hers for one quick second anyway, firm and sure, gone ag

and falls into step right behind him a

Ronan's warriors, breathing hard, eyes wild, a half-packed bag droppe

rd, blocking the only clear path to the stable doors. "Nobody here

e two warriors, then flick past them to Kael, striding in with

rd in this Keep hunting for you?" Kael's voice comes out flat, d

way, might try shifting and fighting his way past two warriors twice his size just for the chance at open air. Instead someth

his voice cracks right down the middle. "I

ael takes a slow step closer

ross his face it's almost hard to look at, and somethin

tain wolf ever turned up, I was to send word straight to her contacts outside the territory, no questions asked. I didn't know who she meant. I didn't know why. I j

she expects, though her hands won't stop shaking at her sides. "You kn

rs standing bright in his eyes now. "I told myself it was just information. Just words

d behind him, no sympathy in it at all. "

ion. "You nearly got her killed. Twice now, if you

bit of defiance gone out of him completely. "I know, and I'm sorry, and I kn

that, because every one of

ng table like she's simply passing a quiet evening, silver-blonde hair catching the low torchlight

an even open his mouth. "Bren was never particularly good under pre

fury; he's clearly working hard to keep leashed. "You sat in this very hall

dy know exactly what I am, Kael. You've known since the moment that girl walked throu

Hall like something sharpened for exactly this pur

bloodline nearly did to Blackthorn the first time it rose to power. I watched it happen with my own eyes. I watched wolves I loved die because a family exactly like hers decided t

running through the watching pack instantly. "You didn't just kill my mother. You stole my whole life from me. Every question I ever asked. Every

just barely, something that might almost pass

f it. I made the decision I believed this pack genuinely needed.

all goes ut

ls more frightening than his anger ever did. "And him." He nods toward Bren, still kneeling near th

moothing her skirts down like she's simply excusing herself from dinner instead of walking towar

ctually catch it, "I hope I was wrong about you. I genuinely hope whatever's wa

all doors, and the warmth doesn't come back

the courtyard, staring out at the dark treeline beyond the Keep, the to

urning around, though something underneath

stone edge. "Every time I close my eyes I hear her voice. I'd make it again if I had to. Like killin

bout the whole thing, honestly. She wasn't cruel for the sake of being cruel. She genuinely believed, right up until they dragged he

old in her chest ever since Bren admitted what he'd done. "More wol

d enough that his knuckles go pale. "And that sca

ees, voice quieter now. "She's locked up. The truth's finall

sideways at her. "Maybe it's just the start of grieving something you

urprised by how much sense it makes.

ppears. "I've just had a lot of practice burying things instead of actually fe

he wind picking up around them, carrying the smell

or believing in me tonight. About Bren. Y

that she hasn't seen from him before, not once. "I keep thinking about everything you've lost because people in my own fami

hat wants to stay guarded. "You just have to stop pretending it didn't ha

tain all at once, and for a long moment neither of them moves

yr

hatever he means to say, distant but completely unmistaka

s rigid beside her, every trace of softness gone in an instant, repla

tree line," he says,

one o

ng down to the warriors stationed below in the cou

anything beyond the reach of the torchlight, heart hammerin

e of figures walking calm and deliberate straight toward the gates, completely unhurried,

ch of the torchlight - ash-black hair, sharp golden eyes that find Lyra's face immediately acro

s voice comes out ba

lly answers, his voice carries a weight she's never once

," he says quietly.

y open, and Lyra's stomach drops straight through the

aitor barely dragged from this very Hall an hour ago. No guard s

y let Darius Veyr in, long before either of th

out there somewhere, watching ev