lyn

nts on the desk. A slow, poisonous

he room, my boots echo

e my parents' graves?" I asked. My

n the great chair, toy

hed, affecting an air of boredom. "Perhaps the Goddess i

k. I leaned down, my eyes locking wit

"You may play your pathetic games for power.

lled h

l the rumors and rebuild those headstones. If you fail, I will call upon every last

back and laughed, a sh

me. "You have no mate, no rank, no power. Yo

, my voice barely above a whisper. "The one with the serpent staff. How long do y

genuine fear flickered in her eyes. She had not known I pos

know what

m that vibrated through the floorboards. I did not turn. I did not need to. The air had changed, suddenly charged w

of his shoulders ease for a fraction of a second. Then his eyes shifted t

the room

ly spoken but unleashed-a resonant, irresistible force that struc

kling as the command forced he

y-" she began, tears

red, pointing

robe and hurried past me. As she br

ning growl rumbled deep in Lucius's chest, a sound that made the very stones seem

p toward me, his large hand raising, his fin

touch. The hurt that flashed

avelly. "I give you my word, I will

st tight with a confusi

her pay for the desecration of my parents' graves?

d hear his teeth grinding. He was concealing something

he finally

his eyes taking on a d

, his voice cracking with strain. "Take t

e me flinch. Tears burned my eye

lanced back. Lucius had taken a step forward, his hand outstretched toward th

slammed shut w

one hallway. Two castle g

I passed. "She keeps that filthy Omega boy fro

ssed down on me as I walked out into t

a terror that had nothing to do with Rosalind and every

taff. Of the three blood-circles on Lucius's map. The pieces were there, scattered and dark, waiting to be asse