Page 98

Inside, every instinct I have goes still.

We’ve underestimated this hex witch. Chalked her up to some kind of coerced or naïve errand girl for Ramsey’s delusional plans. But the feral witch before me now is clearly nurturing her own nefarious plans. And her own brand of hate driving them.

Davina looks toward the house, toward the place where Grey and Lexi stood, and says, “Franco kept me locked in that lab like a fucking slave. Years of draining my magic into his labs. Years of making me strengthen his protections, hide his secrets, patch the holes in his kingdom whenever another one of his wolves got greedy or stupid enough to tear something open.”

Her gaze flicks to me.

I don’t react.

“He called it a debt,” she says. “Like one favor owed could justify a lifetime in chains.”

Ramsey’s smile sharpens. “And now she’s been dismantling those chains. Ward by ward. Thread by thread. Every weak point your scouts found? Every boundary line that failed?” He gestures lazily toward Davina. “That was her.”

Davina lifts one shoulder. “Some cages deserve to collapse.”

“Isn’t she incredible?” Ramsey asks, eyes lit like a kid on Christmas as he looks at her.

“Impressive,” I say, because that seems like something a good little puppet would say.

Ramsey looks delighted.

Davina looks less convinced.

Before she can study me too closely, movement draws her attention toward the side garden. I follow her gaze just as Violet steps onto the lawn.

For one stupid second, my brain refuses to accept what I’m seeing. Violet, barefoot in the damp grass, sweater sleeves pulled over her hands, strawberry-blonde hair loose around a face gone white with fear. She isn’t moving like the others. No slack expression. No vacant obedience. No spell-glazed calm.

She is completely herself.

And in her hands, peeking out of a dark cloth, is a blade.

Grey’s hex blade.

My stomach drops.

Violet stops a few feet from Ramsey. Her eyes dart once toward the terrace doors, toward the house, toward the place Lexi was standing before she ran.

“I brought it,” she says. Her voice shakes. “Like you asked.”

Ramsey’s expression turns almost gentle. “Good girl.”

The words make my wolf bare her teeth inside me.

Davina takes a step forward, eyes on the blade.

Violet flinches and twists away. “You said if I helped you, Lexi would be safe.”

“She was safe,” Ramsey says. “Until she ran.”

“That’s not what you promised.”

“Violet,” he says, like she’s being unreasonable. Like this is a private misunderstanding instead of a betrayal spilling out in front of half a compelled pack. “We talked about this.”

Her eyes fill. “You said you only needed the patrol notes. Then the meeting times. Then the coordinates.” Her fingers tighten around the wrapped blade. “You said if I helped, you wouldn’t hurt her.”

There it is.

The leak.