I dragged off my gloves and dropped them onto a table by a star mirror. When I glimpsed my reflection, I turned away. I had no desire to look at that man—a man with far too much blood on his hands, who was running out of time. I reached inside my coat to my tunic and removed a silver compass. My uncle’s.
I placed it on the top right corner of the map, and it settled into place with a soft click.
After all that had been sacrificed, I could not falter. Not even for my mate.
A knot of grief formed in my chest alongside a hollowness that threatened to tear me apart. Memories of being cold, hungry, and afraid returned, of my father rejecting us before his death, followed by my uncle showing us compassion and allowing us to return to the safety of the city and the palace. Why were these memories returning?
Damn that woman.
This was her fault.
Her presence was already undoing me and bringing things to the surface that I had no time to deal with now. Our connection was burning through the barriers I had struggled so hard toerect. Giving in to it would weaken me, make me vulnerable. I’d be useless, both to my people and ultimately to her.
Nothing good would come of being near Hannah right now.
If I were smart, I’d kill her and be done with it.
I froze in place.
No.
That wasn’t necessary. It wouldn’tbenecessary. I’d figure something else out. The situation could still be managed.
I strode to the sideboard, opened the top left drawer, and seized a bottle of lorn leaf. The dull green leaves had been ground into a fine powder. It took only a moment to mix a dose into a glass of cold, bitter frost gin, and I downed it in a single gulp. The foul taste coated my tongue. It hadn’t gotten better with time, but it was the only thing that gave me peace. I poured more of the frost gin into a clean glass and tried to wash out the horrid flavor.
A burning foulness spread through me, chilling me to my core. The tumultuous feelings receded. Hannah would be dealt with soon. For now, I would let the lorn leaf do its work and get back to preparing for the next Night Court attack.
I turned my attention to the records, observations, and reports sent from the outposts and the watches. The Night Court’s assaults had worsened over the years, even though King Bram himself had become uncharacteristically cowardly. Reports from the northern and northeastern ridges between the Salt Mountains and the Shadow Peaks indicated that Bram had been solidifying forces in front of our borders and that more were massing near the Night Court’s southernmost outposts.
They were going to attack the Aurora Court soon, while the court remained blanketed in sleep. If my informants were correct, Bram still didn’t have the enchanted dagger needed to open the veil, though he had tried to find every single remaining Aurora Fae that lived to demand they assist him or die. Butthe continued massing of forces concerned me. The volcanoes had been growing in activity as well, but they had not erupted, suggesting that Bram was using his magic to keep all that power focused. But for what and when?
I made preparations for the upcoming war meeting with my brother and generals. Winter would soon be upon us. Without the presence of the Day and Aurora Courts to unveil the sun, the chill of dusk and the cold of night would make our lives all the harder. Restoring the Aurora Court would bring a little more sun, but our world would remain imbalanced.
At last, I strode to the long line of narrow windows that overlooked the inner courtyard. The torches below cast fitful halos over the stone tiles and glistened on tiny flakes of falling snow.
My thoughts returned to Hannah, and I pressed my fists into the chilled stone windowsill.
Her presence was an intolerable addition to an already tense situation. The detached feeling I sought wasn’t as present as I wanted. If I wasn’t back to my old self within an hour, I’d take another dose of lorn leaf. Being near my fated mate probably meant I’d be burning through the emotion-dulling herb at a much higher rate.
I dipped my head forward and closed my eyes, and numbness spread through my chest. Answers would come. They had to.
I opened my eyes and peered out into the courtyard once more, only to see a dark form moving toward the dungeon entrance. A low growl rose in my throat. I’d made it explicitly clear that he wasn’t to go down there.
CHAPTER 3
Hannah
“Let go!” My voice bounced off the walls, ragged and high, as the guards yanked me to my feet like I weighed nothing.
The guard with lilac eyes had his gloved hand clamped around my right arm, and his fingers were digging into my bicep, causing a deep throb of pain. The one with a long, jagged scar on his jaw held my left wrist so tight that my fingers were tingling.
They dragged me across the stone courtyard, through a dark doorway, and down a staircase, with the one called Folge following behind.
My pulse pounded, and I tried to yank myself away, but their grips were a vise as they crowded me on both sides, putting the three of us on the same stair simultaneously.
The men and the walls seemed to close in on me as the stairwell spiraled down, becoming narrower and colder with each step. Torches burned in iron brackets, the guttering yellow-orange flames seeping smoke that stung my eyes. The shadows between the pools of light were deep and thick, clinging to the ceiling like spiderwebs made of ink.
The damp and metallic air made breathing hard, and the stone steps were slick under my sneakers. Every time I slipped,the guards jerked me up again, jolting my shoulders in their sockets. My breaths came fast and shallow, puffing white in front of my face in little panicked bursts.
