y tongue when Dorian pushed me into his

grief. Alaric had pressed it into my palm when he kissed my cheek in mock farewell, and I had taken i

t me now, and his eyes wer

man who had waited fifte

hing," Dorian said.

d forward, and I gripped the velvet

d wood, silver fixtures that gleamed like drawn blades. Everything smelled of him-leat

tively relaxed. But his hands rested on his thighs, and I noticed the way

again, his voice sof

n't k

is brow, and he did not brush it away. "You swallowed an unknown substance given to

yway." I met his gaze.

key eyes. Something that might ha

use you are mine now. And I do not t

in the close confines of the carriage. "

re far more valuable. A

ow-not just the leather and cedar, but something underneath. Something warm and a

in," he said. "The Duke of

the man who mur

went

I saw it. I saw the way his jaw tightened, the way his fingers press

ter," he

ric wanted her. She refused. So he took her anyway, and when s

e I could fall. His grip was iron, his palm hot even through the fabric o

ly. "I was told you murdered hi

as the one who

for the loss of his heat. He stared at me for a long moment, and I c

together. He is the reason I became a soldier, the reason I built an army, the

know wha

rs. Not since he took the northern provinces and declared himself Duke. Not sin

the man you

aid. "Apparent

he produced a single white petal. It was dried and brittle, but it sti

what this i

ok my

He held it up, and the glow illuminated the sharp planes of his face. "The g

d turne

tly how it tasted. What you felt. Every detail. Because if my cous

s eyes held something I had not seen befor

e you a

came to a v

knees cracking against the wooden boards, my bound wrists unable to break my fall. I

earing in his hand as if from nowhere. He kicked

o the window

in shades of blood and gold. Six men on horseback surrounded the carriage. They wore no colors

re Alar

s," one of them called out

voice was calm. Almost bored. "She is

e are six of us, Ravenscr

an s

terrifying thing

again,"

he forest