Prologue
Svena, Terror of the Winter Sea, White Witch of the Three Sisters, and acting head of the world’s oldest and still most powerful dragon clan, was awake before noon, and she wasn’t happy about it. She was even less happy to be awake andalone, sulking in the middle of Ian’s giant bed while she watched her young lover dress through narrowed, resentful eyes.
“I don’t see why you have to leave,” she said, brushing the sleep-tangled, ice blond hair out of her eyes. “Not even humans are awake at this beastly hour.”
“On the contrary,” Ian replied, tying his silk tie in the bedroom mirror. “Lots of highly successful humans are up and busy at six in the morning, which is whyIam up at five.” His reflection smiled teasingly at her. “That’s the downside of young, ambitious dragons, darling. We still have to work.”
Svena’s scathing look let him know what she thought ofthat. As always, though, Ian just smirked, running a brush through his perfect black hair one last time before walking over to the bed. “Go back to sleep,” he said, leaning down to kiss her. “You need all the rest you can get. We have theparty tonight.”
He said this like he was delivering the gravest of news, and Svena laughed. “But the invitation wassoheartfelt. How could I dash your sweet baby brother’s hopes by refusing? I’m a dragon, not an ogre.”
Ian scoffed. “If Julius actually wrote that, he’s even worse than I thought.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “You know my mother—”
“Of course I know,” Svena cut him off, snuggling back down into the pillows. “But that’s the problem withold,ambitious dragons, darling. You are free to cut your own way to the top, but the Heartstriker isn’t someone we can ignore, and I have my family to think of.”
“You think of them too often,” he said coldly. “Why must it all fall on you? Your sisters are perfectly capable of spinning their own plots. Or they would be, if they weren’t so used to Estella telling them what to do, they’ve forgotten how to function without her.”
“Perhaps,” Svena said sleepily. “But at leasttheynever woke me up before noon.”
Ian heaved a long sigh, and then the bed dipped slightly as he reached down to stroke her long hair. “I’ll come home early,” he promised. “I want to take you somewhere before we have to go.”
Svena’s head shot up. “Where?” she asked, trying not to sound too excited.
Ian didn’t answer, just winked at her as he stood and walked out of the bedroom. Only when the door shut behind him did Svena let her suspicious expression melt into a smile as she flopped back into the mountain of pillows.
Not that she would ever admit it, but things with Ian were going remarkably well. He managed the delicate balance of courtship with the adroitness of a dragon three times his age; showering her with just enough gifts and surprises to keep her interested, but never so many that it came across as trying too hard. He was also exceedingly easy on the eyes as both a human and a dragon. A shallow consideration to be sure, but one Svena found quite pleasing. Most astonishing of all, though, was how well they got along.
It wasn’t affection; Svena barely feltthateven for her sisters, but there was an ease of like minds between her and Ian that was surprisingly delightful. So much so that she often found herself granting him more access than she should, which would have to be curbed. A courtship this lovely deserved to be savored, not rushed, and after all the work she’d put into digging her clan out of the hole Estella had left it in when she’d vanished without a trace four weeks ago, Svena had earned some time to herself.
With that delightful thought, Svena rolled over, snuggling back into bed to catch another few hours of sleep before she was due to meet Katya for brunch and a status report. She’d just begun to drift off when she felt a cold, sharp twinge at the edge of her consciousness.
Svena sat bolt upright, holding her breath, but there was no mistake. Magic was rising in the room.Veryfamiliar magic, and it was coming fast.
She sprang out of bed, trailing frost across the carpet behind her as she grabbed her dressing gown. She was still shoving her arms into the padded silk sleeves when the air in front of her closet began to warp and bulge before finally ripping apart entirely as a dragon tore its way into the world.
Svena jumped back with a curse. Not because of the dragon—given the magic, she’d expected nothing less—but because it wasblack. What should have been glistening white scales and transparent, frost-traced wings was hidden under thick layers of tarry, black residue, almost as though the dragon had been rolling in ash. The stuff didn’t smell like any char Svena had ever encountered, but before she could get a better look, the dragon shifted and shrank until all that was left was its human shadow, naked and gasping on the ice-coated carpet.
“Estella!”
Svena ran to her sister’s side, her hands shooting out to help her up before stopping short. Something was horribly wrong. Estella’s normally snow-white hair and skin were as dirty as her dragon had been, and her fingers were bloody, as though she’d been digging through sharp stones. Worst of all, though, was what she clutched between them.
There were two objects. One, a beautiful golden ball the size of a large orange, was expected. Estella had never mastered the finer points of extraplanar travel, and she couldn’t have found her way back to this dimension without the Kosmolabe. But while Svena was most definitely not pleased to see the golden troublemaker again, it was nothing compared to what was waiting in Estella’s other hand.
At first glance, they looked like coiled lengths of black rope. On the second, she saw they werechains. Pencil thin, ink black chains were wrapped around Estella’s hands and wrists, their tiny links glittering dully under the dimmed lights. The closest one twitched as Svena watched, curling around Estella’s thumb like a thin, black tentacle.
“What is that?” she demanded, recoiling back from her oldest, and once dearest, sister. “What have you done, Estella?”
The seer didn’t answer. She just pushed herself to her knees, looking around the penthouse apartment like she didn’t know where she was. “How long was I gone?”
Svena winced. Her sister’s voice was as rough as the rest of her. “Four weeks.”
“Four weeks,” Estella whispered, lifting a shaking, chained hand to her face. “It felt like centuries.”
For a dangerous moment, the old sympathy came welling back, and then Svena remembered herself. “Maybe it should have been.”
Estella’s head snapped up, but Svena only gave her a cold look, rising from the floor to stare down at the dragon who’d nearly doomed their clan. She’d hoped to have more time before it came to this, but it didn’t matter. Svena was prepared, and it was best to settle things now, quickly, before Estella had a chance to recover.
“You should not have returned.”
