He’s not a werewolf. He’s a witch.
He doesn’t have elongated canines or pointed ears.
“Comfortable, isn’t it?” My voice rings through the space. He jolts when my voice echoes off the walls.
The Lua representative shoots to his feet. “Your Majesty,” he says with an accent can’t quite place. “Forgive me. My curiosity got the better of me. I never should have?—”
“Who are you?” I interrupt, folding my arms across my chest. The witch opens and closes his mouth. I forge ahead. “Well? Who the hell are you? Are you really from Lua, or was that a lie to get my attention?”
The stranger steps toward me. “Your Majesty, please, I mean you no harm. I am a friend—more than that. I amfamily.My name is Ravi Deyanira. I am distantly related to Ivah, Aradia’s sister. I guess you could say we are cousins. Like you, I am a Lunar Witch.”
My glare could melt tungsten. In the television broadcast I made before my coronation, I mentioned hoping to find my lost family members. It seems too much of a coincidence that one has found me now, dressed in wolves’ clothing, in the middle of a disaster when my kingdom is most vulnerable.
“Fuck you,” I say, my voice cold.
“What?”
“Do you want money? Is that it?” Ravi blinks at the bite of my words. “Are you here to exploit me?”
Ravi shakes his head. “No. I am here to help you.”
“Liar,” I spit.
He doesn’t know me. No one is that selfless.
“Why would I lie? I don’t need money.”
My laugh is bitter. “Who do you work for?”
He hesitates, and I see red. I don’t get the chance to continue before he says, “Prince Alden Lupas.”
King Simon’s second son. “A witch working with wolves? Forgive me if I call your bluff.”
Ravi exhales. “Are you always this suspicious?”
I’m a product of my circumstances, so yes.
“I bet you aren’t even a Lunar Witch. You probably?—”
Ravi closes his eyes, and his body slumps back onto the throne. I gasp as his astral form rises from his body, shimmering but not translucent. He stands before me with a smug smile on his face. His eyes glow with an otherworldly horror.
“Do you believe me now?” he asks, his voice ringing strangely.
I can only nod, too stunned to speak, as Aradia’s voice whispers,He can teach you magic, Leigh.
I shake my head. I have more pressing matters than learning magic from this trickster. And just because he is a Lunar Witch doesn’t mean we are related, or that he knows Prince Alden. The proof is in the details.
Ravi does have Ivah’s bone structure,Aradia says.
I close my eyes, praying for strength.
Ravi’s astral form sinks back into his body. He opens his eyes, meeting my gaze.
“What do you want?” I ask.
Ravi presses his lips into a thin line. “Officially, I’m here on behalf of Prince Alden Lupas of Lua. He requests a visit to discuss the possibility of an alliance between your people. The sooner, the better. He is at your disposal.” Ravi retrieves a missive from his pocket with a wolf insignia in a teal seal. He holds it out to me.
I snatch it.
