A'S

sound. My bare feet met the cold marble floor, but the rage insid

target

aphina's shameless sounds with a pinched expression. She had not been shocked enough to st

ched for the small carving knife lying among the sliced pears. In my past life, I would have tremble

behind

t in the air. Her head bega

roat in one swift, merciless motion. Her eyes flew wide. A thin, w

raito

om, and slid the fruit knife into the inside pocket of his coat. By the time the guards searched this room, Willa

phina's breathless cries from t

Tessa, Seraphina's girl. Her face had gone bloodless

, my voice cold enough to freeze blood. "You can join her"

ars streaming down her face.

ants' passage behind the dressing alcove. "Take the hidden corridor to the east guard sta

fused and terrified. "B

the Crown Prince's promised consort," I said. "Say Lady Elara requests Prince Alistair's presence i

Alistair arrived and found Seraphina in Gideon's arms, the bet

ir that you helped Seraphina sneak into this room. You know wha

She nodded again, mor

into the pass

eraphina were still too consumed by each other to notice that their witnes

lashed the remaining drugged wine down the front of my bodice. Then I loosened my hair and dragged m

a emerged first, hurriedly tugging her bodice back into place. Gideon follo

s," Seraphina muttered, smoothin

d the bed. "She won'

the floor. His exp

s?" he deman

d reach me, the door to th

inst the corridor's torches, was a tall,

arply sculpted face, making the severe line of his cheekbones and the cool gray of his eyes seem even more striking.

-head handle. His body carried the unmistakable fragility of a man who had sp

d sickl

ry muc

froze. The color drai

They took in Gideon's disordered clothes, Seraphina's flushed skin a

like lightning beneath my skin. A wolf I had never known existe

ely returned my life. She ha

"Your Highness," I cried. "Thank the Goddess you're here. Gideon drugged me. When Willa realiz

break. "He took the knife from the fruit tray a

He looked toward Gideon's d

and drew out the bloodied fruit knife. Gideon'

quietly. The coldness in his voice

gan, but Alistair's e

th my sister," I continued,

able. He stepped into the room, the tip of h

h the chamber like a razor. "Why is my promised

is mouth, but n

h just enough fear to sound real. "I am Elara Thorne, Your

d my

hina's guilty one. A long, silent moment passed. Then

it too,"

and to me. "Com

rtain. "The Moon Goddess does not make mist