Artisem nods and turns to go. “I’ll have them leave tonight.”
He reaches the door, but I call out, “Artisem.”
He stops, glancing back at me.
“I want stealth,” I say. “Nobody should know what we’re doing. Not the King’s guard, not the other nobles. Nobody.”
Artisem nods assuringly. “No one will know.”
The door closes behind him, and I’m alone with my thoughts. If Artisem’s suspicions are correct, Theodore orchestrated or participated in the massacre of the Ravelholt Clan. He took Daciana as a baby. Gave her to another family. And now, twenty-eight years later, he’s pushing his daughter on me while trying to destroy my mate.
I have to talk to Lucian. He needs to know about this, needs to understand what we’re dealing with. The noble families, the necromancer, and now this. It’s all connected. It must be.
I’m halfway to Lucian’s study when Celeste appears in my path.
“Alpha Kieran,” she says, her tone honey sweet. “I was hoping to speak with you.”
I keep walking toward her. “Get out of my way.”
She doesn’t move. Her chin lifts, and I see the calculated determination there. “I would make a better mate than Daciana,” she says.
The audacity of it makes me stop and glare at her.
“With me as your mate,” she continues, “doors will open for your pack. Better trade agreements, more power, more influence. My father is one of the most important nobles in the Kingdom. He could—”
“I’m not interested in anything you have to offer.” I let my gaze travel down her body, deliberately slow, deliberately insulting. Let her feel what it’s like to be reduced to a transaction.
She flushes, humiliation staining her cheeks red.
“I know you’ve been lying,” I say, stepping closer. My wolf pushes forward, and I let gold flash in my gaze. “And your lies are going to cost your family everything.”
The color drains from her face. For a moment, she looks young and terrified.
I move to walk past her, but her whisper stops me cold.
“You don’t know my father. He’s a very dangerous man. He knows how to get what he wants.”
I glance back at her, but she’s not looking at me anymore, just staring at the floor. What she said was not a threat. It was a warning.
I keep walking. A dangerous man? He may be a necromancer with a vendetta against my mate and me, but he’s not the only one who has been amassing power over these past centuries.
Lucian looks up when I enter his study. “Any luck with Daciana’s brothers?”
“No.” I drop into the chair across from him. “Your men haven’t found anything?”
“Nothing.” He rubs his temples. “I don’t understand how the Alpha of the Silver Stone Pack didn’t notice an entire family was missing for ten days. How none of the pack members contacted Daciana.”
“Given how much dark magic I could sense in that pack’s territory?” I shake my head. “It was woven throughout, Lucian. Down every lane, around every house. Someone went to great lengths to make sure no one asked questions. Whoever got rid of that family wanted to keep it under wraps.”
Lucian stands and moves to the window. He looks tired, thoroughly exhausted in a way I haven’t seen before. “I’ve gotten word,” he says quietly. “The noble families are amassing private armies.”
I go still. “How many?”
“Enough.” He doesn’t look at me. “The war is no longer inevitable, Kieran. It’s here. We’re just waiting for the first sword to swing.”
“There’s still time left,” I say quietly.
“Is there?” He turns to face me. He holds my gaze for a long moment, then sighs. “And what brings you here?”
