Spinning in pooled blood, I slice through the neck of the next andswivel, twirling through the foyer outside the antechamber and killing two guards at once, stakes jamming outward at my sides as I lunge and brace for impact.For the prison barracks.
No warrior who devotes themselves to the crown deserves a life such as that.
I continue down the hall, Second beside me, and we slaughter our way through the guards who have sneered at us, locked us in their dungeons, and brutalized the people beneath their feet.
Whirling, I see Del and Emmanuel dance together. Del is expertly trained, his technique as exceptional as Emmanuel’s, and my curiosity spikes. I knew he could fight by how he won his position as second, but he and my assassin are taking down twenty guards in mere moments, their movements mirroring each other. Their resemblance is so striking, it’s uncanny—I was a fool not to be curious before now.
I sheathe my daggers and grab two stakes as a vampire snaps next to me. I stab a stake into his heart without looking.
Del meets my eyes with a smirk, and his head jerks to the left to warn me as a vampire swings his broadsword for my head. I duck and stab a stake into his heart.
Second hurls a headless body at the wall and rips another in half beside me.
An opening to the throne room presents itself, the guard population thinning quickly in the hallway. To my surprise, King Nerian snaps into the antechamber, his eyes catching mine, and he smiles at me like we’re about to share a cup of tea at dawn. “Ah, I’m so glad you’re willing to fight for what you want, my dear. I’ll leave you to it. Let’s be sure to meet up later—I have a surprise for you,” he drawls, and snaps out of existence.
“The fuck does that mean?!” I scream into the mayhem, eyeing Del, who shrugs at me from the other side of the bloodbath.
Night Kingdom guards pour into the hallway, and Charlotte barrels out behind them, her gown snagging on someone’s sword as she tears into a guard’s throat with her fucking teeth, then stabs a stake through their heart. My most influential courtier—until she’s not. Until she’s tired of the games and puts her training to work. My best weapons always hide in plain sight.
Charlotte tears the skirt of her gown from her body, buttons around her waist designed to shed fabric in an instant and reveal her leathers beneath. She yanks out the stakes strapped to her thighs and stabs them into the hearts around her.
Emmanuel snaps through the room, coming up beside Charlotte, and their coordinated brutality thins the guards filling the corridor. They’ve been training together for decades, and the orchestrated chemistry is breathtaking.
Knuckles kiss my cheek as I spin away from a punch just in time and drive my stake upward into the heart of another guard.
Second curses beside me. “Watch yourself, Veya, before I make you sit this out.”
I scoff through the swing of my sword. “Like you could evermakeme do anything.”
He tosses a body out of the way. “If it’s your life, I will.”
Unfortunately, it’s difficult to disown a vampire who’s like a brother and has devoted centuries to your protection. So I refocus instead of arguing with him.
“Behind you!” Second bellows, and I spin, but I’m too late.
The vampire already has a hand around my throat and a blade aimed at my skull. Its eyes blow wide, and the guard’s mouth fills with blood, bones crushing in on themselves, and its hand falls away from me.
I gasp for breath as the vampire crumples at my feet.
Del winks from the other end of the corridor, his stake clattering onto the stone floor before me.
Thank you, I mouth across the divide, and he grins through a swing of his sword.
“That was so fucking close,” Second spits, staking two vampires beside us.
I twirl around, rejoining Second, and slash my blades into my next opponent.
“I know,” I growl, thankful for Del’s perfect aim. And his attention.
My focus catches on General Balor climbing the front steps of the castle, his shadowed form outlined by the dim moonlight through the open iron doors.
I snap down the hallway for Balor, Del joining my side, and we block the entrance to the fortress.
I knowIhave my grievances with this male, but I can only imagine how deep they go for Del.
“You won’t win this,” Balor sneers on the wide landing. “Although I’m sure youthinkyou will,” he cackles through his mocking tone and draws his broadsword in the falling snow.
The general lunges for me as Del skirts to his other side, but Balor’s already snapping around me out of the way before I can react.
