CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
Verena
IKNEW SOMETHING HAD SHIFTED when he saved me from death. But could it be this deep? This absolute?
My mouth parted, the question stuck in my mind now trembling at the tip of my tongue—
The sound of heels cut through the great hall, each strike like a countdown. And then, like the slow unfurl of a nightmare, she emerged.
The most beautiful woman I had ever seen.
Her strawberry-blonde hair fell past her shoulders, landing near a waist that dipped like an hourglass, barely veiled by a suggestion of primrose cloth. The slick fabric plunged in a deep V, parting between the swell of her breasts, diving past her navel before knotting around her hips and disappearing between her legs.
Her thighs were lean, honed with muscle, a single rose leather strap cinched high, flashing only when she moved like some feral, graceful feline.
But she wasn’t a feline. She was a dragon. And, infuriatingly, more breathtaking than any creature had the right to be.
I couldn’t peel my eyes from her as she prowled across the floor, every step intentional, until she reached him. Without hesitation, she wrapped herself around him, holding tight.
“I knew I felt you,” she purred. Silk slipped, baring the curve of her ass with all the subtlety of a blade sliding between ribs.
What. The. Fuck.
Anger came easy, the Viper smiling behind my face. My knuckles blanched as I let the shift slide across my eyes, pupils narrowing to black.
Ronan didn’t move to hold her. His arms stayed crossed, his attention never wavering from me. When the woman drew back and kissed his cheek, I stalked forward, a predator in all, even name.
My body went fever-hot, the monster inside me snapping like a taut wire. It wasn’t the touch itself, any fool could see it was nothing but theater, but the way her fingers lingered, set every animal part of me on fire.
His voice drifted through the bond.She’s mostly harmless. Though important. And only doing this to make you angry.
I halted.Important?
Not to me, my soulflame. To Ryuu.Play nice.
Soulflame was new.
I stoppered away a ragged inhale, leaving my fangs sheathed and my posture intentional. I wouldn’t hurt her, not here. Not now. But I would make sure she knew which parts of Ronan’s life were off-limits. Knew it was wise to keep those perfectly polished claws off my—
He smirked.Your what?
Gods. These damn shields needed a lock.
A sharp little cough announced itself before I could stop it, just enough to sever the moment. He slid from her grasp, coming to my side.
The shift was subtle, but her head snapped toward us, chin tilting over one perfectly poised shoulder as though she couldn’t quite believe he had left her orbit.
“Aelora—" Ronan said, the syllables clipped. Her almond eyes lifted, blue as dragon-fire smoke and framed by knife-edged cheekbones. She looked only at him; her devotion sharpened into something brittle. “This is Verena.”
Then, with a snap, her stare cut to me.
I had thought Elysian’s glare was winter incarnate. Hers promised worse.
Aelora’s beauty was clearly a weapon for her—a narrow face glowing with health, heart-shaped lips sculpted into a smile that wasn’t one, set beneath a sleeked nose. Fury glowed beneath her flawless skin and with all sharp angles and lethal polish, she wielded it with the arrogance of someone who had been adored for too long.
I said nothing, held my silence. If she wanted to test me with words, I would slice them into scraps. If she wanted violence, I would gladly oblige. But for Ronan’s sake, I forced myself to stay still. Civil, if necessary.
“Verena.” The way her lips tightened around my name was as though she’d been forced to swallow poison.
