“Tell me,” Lana continued as Nadi carefully positioned the crown in her elaborately styled hair, “what do you think about change, Monica? Are you someone who embraces it, or do you prefer the comfort of the familiar?”
Another test. Nadi kept her hands steady as she secured the ornament with hidden pins. “Change is inevitable. The question is whether you guide it or let it happen to you.”
“How very wise.” Lana’s reflection smiled. “And what about loyalty? How do you balance personal loyalty against larger principles?”
“I suppose it depends on the circumstances.” Nadi stepped back to study her handiwork. “But I believe in honoring my commitments. If I give my word, I keep it.”
“Even when those commitments conflict with each other?”
The probing was becoming more direct. Nadi met Lana’s gaze in the mirror, allowing a hint of confusion to show. “I’m not sure I understand. Have I done something wrong?”
“Oh, no, no.” Lana turned in her chair to face her directly. “Let me be more specific. What would you do if you discovered that someone you cared about—someone you’d made commitments to—was planning something that would hurt innocent people? Where would your loyalty lie then?”
The loaded question hung in the air between them. She was talking about Raziel, obviously. Nadi felt the weight of the serpent pendant against her throat, a reminder of the man who’d given it to her and what they were planning to do that day. “I would try to understand their reasons first and then decide what I could live with. And if not…then, I would act.”
“What you could live with.” Lana repeated the phrase thoughtfully. “That’s interesting. Most people would say they’d try to stop them or report them to the authorities. But you’d consider their motivations.”
“People rarely do terrible things without believing they have good reasons. Or justified ones.” Nadi shrugged. “That doesn’t make the things less terrible, it just makes things more complicated when you consider the person as a whole. In our context, if we ousted everyone whose actions brought around anything other than perfectly pure ends, we’d be standing in a very lonely field of headstones.”
Lana studied her for a long moment, then laughed—a sound like breaking crystal. “You know, Monica, I think I may have misjudged you. You’re far more sophisticated than I initially gave you credit for. I really do think you would be a perfect fit for our family.Regardlessof where you’re from.”
Before Nadi could respond, a knock at the door interrupted them.
“Come in!” Lana’s call was so chipper it almost made Nadi sick.
The door opened to reveal the same seamstress Nadi had noticed the day before—the one she’d seen in Braen’s club. Thefae. Or at least someone who had grown up in the Wild around the fae.
“Begging your pardon, my lady,” the seamstress said with a curtsy, “but there’s been a small issue with the train of your gown. Nothing serious, but it needs attention before the ceremony.”
“Of course it does.” Lana sighed dramatically. “Monica, would you mind? I should probably rest for a few minutes before the chaos truly begins, anyway.”
“Not at all.” Nadi headed for the door, grateful for an excuse to leave before Lana’s questions became more pointed.
As she passed the seamstress in the doorway, the woman’s hand brushed against hers—a contact that lasted a fraction of a second longer than necessary. In that brief touch, Nadi felt something pressed into her palm. A small piece of paper, folded tight.
Her heart hammered, but she kept her expression neutral as she continued down the hallway. Only when she was safely in a powder room with the door locked behind her did she unfold the paper.
The message was brief, written in the flowing script of the fae language—When the bells toll, escape while you can.
Nadi stared at the words, her mind racing. The fae were not only here to disrupt the wedding…
They knew what she was.Who she was.
That wasn’t possible. It wasn’t—how?How?
Ripping up the paper into tiny shreds, she quickly ran to the restroom and flushed it down the drain. As she stood there, watching the evidence disappear, she felt the weight of impossible choices settling on her shoulders.
No, no, no, no,no, no?—
Raziel and his family were planning their own internal destruction. The fae were here and they knew who she was.
And she was caught in the middle, bound by conflicting loyalties and impossible promises.
The sound of bells chiming in the distance made her freeze. Wedding bells, calling guests to take their places for the ceremony.
When the bells toll, escape while you can.
Whatever was about to happen, it was starting now.
