Power spears through my left hand in a rush that forces a scream from my lips.
In that moment, I pray for his heart to start beating again, prepared for the terrible moment when it does.
Prepared for that moment because then he will live and I will lose him.
And there it is.
A steady beat.
Then I’m screaming and throwing myself backward, away from my pack, a snarl already growing on my lips. “Take him! Get him away from me! He must not be corrupted by this power. He must not remember what he was or he will break again.”
Orlan and Lucian rush forward through the haze of energy, heaving and hauling my love’s warm body off the bed.
All I can hear is his heartbeat, thudding strong and clear, and all I care about is the flush of new color to his cheeks and the way his hands are already moving and his eyes are already opening…
But looking at him will be my undoing, so I close my eyes.
I close my eyes and then he’s gone.
I can’t hear this heartbeat any longer. I can’t inhale his scent, that crisp scent of wolves and snow and apples andkindness. All the goodness I returned to him that can’t be a part of my life any longer.
A moment later, a wave of darkness passes through my mind.
It is forceful and demanding, a flood of power that wipes clean my thoughts, taking my anguish and my pain and dissolving them so fast that they are instantly forgotten.
Instantly inconsequential.
My gaze is drawn to my hands, where a flawless crown rests on my palms, ready to be placed on my head. Its sharp spokes rise up from its solid body, each one glinting and sparkling.
It is beautifully, perfectly dark.
And now it’s mine.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
ONE YEAR LATER
There’s a silence that falls whenever I enter a room.
At first, it didn’t bother me. I needed the quiet to maintain my balance between my power and my reason.
Then it bothered me because it spoke to a fear that stilted communication, and it took a lot of work to encourage my people to step past that barrier.
Now, I’m accustomed to it.
Anarchy and her brothers are constant shadows at my back, dedicated to achieving everything I need. From the simplest things—a hot meal after I’ve traveled across the country—to the more complicated, like gleaning information about what’s happening in the dark corners of my empire.
I haven’t stopped to rest since I took the crown.
My father left decades of destruction in his wake. Broken packs. Families split apart. Dark spaces allowed to fester.
My rules are absolute. No subjugation or degradation of any member of any species, human or supernatural. No murder. Death happens only by sanction. And in those cases, I deliver it myself.
Right now, I step into the dark bowels of a nightclub owned by a demon who will regret attracting my attention. He broke off from his leader—a demon who has himself struggled with my rules, but may the dark saints bless him, he tries.
The nightclub is hosting a rave tonight. A year ago, I wouldn’t have known what to call this sort of event, but I know a lot of things now.
The dance floor is packed with people, strobe lights flash across the vast room, and the heavy thump of music fills my ears.
