aide
the edges of my spectral vision. I was fading, being
the door, hi
red my hatred and flung a single thought at him, a seed
Do you truly
parting shot. A ghost's despe
. A barely perceptible reaction, but it was there.
darkness c
ling through an end
I took
violent coughing fit. The stench of rust and cold stone vanished, re
s flew
ce curtains of the bay window, spilling across my face. My vision blurred
hood bedroom in t
d with youth, skin smooth and unblemished. No silver-burn scars. No purpl
t. A wave of dizziness hit me, and I staggered, gripping the bedp
mi
or against the wall, like a drow
mooth, her lips slightly parted in that unguarded way of the young. But her eyes-no, my eyes-were not a c
r chains. Bu
ve. I had
e Summer Solstice festival. The night Ashley and Juliana had
n the door opened. I struggled, I screamed, but no one came. In the morning, they brought the elders-I was kneeling on the rug, my dress torn, Vance snoring besi
t let it h
lway outside my door. Foot
were
the sharpened instincts of a warrior who had died and come
d. I snatched it, its weight solid and reassuring in my hand. I moved to t
t wafted in-stale ale, unwashed leather, and the sour musk of a man who'd been working up his courage w
ard, and Vance Tuc
too close together, a mouth that hung slightly open, revealing yellowed teeth. He was grinning. Not the smirk of a man who liked women, but the grin of a man who liked h
t of coarse dark hair. His hands-enormous, knobby, the nails bitten to the q
et. His voice was a low rumble, thick and wet, like ston
ing my grip on the lamp. B
, his grin widening. The moment he
cted with the back of his head with a sickening thud. The sound was deeply
mpletely blindsided by the attack
he air left him in a wheezing gasp-a high, pathetic sound I drank in like water after a
and slammed the base of the lamp against his temple. Hard. Once.
ody made a heavy, final thump against the floor. I stood over him for
athing. L
n. But I forced myself to stop. A dead man would raise questions. An unconscious one would just be con
nightgown, as if touching him had left a stain I needed to remov
no time to savor the small
soft, manicured lawn of the estate. The grass was cool and damp with dew. I paused for just a m
and the words felt lik
ra
dark woods that bordered our territory. The trees rose before me like a wall of shadows, and I welcome
edge of the property, I didn't see the figure w
m with the force
muscle. My head spun, and for a moment, I was disoriented. Then I felt som
k, already brac
. Moonlight illuminated the scene, and I looked
caught in
e aura of power was already there. And those
an R
wild hair. A frown creased his brow. His gaze swept over me like a blade, cataloging every det
ke a hook caught beneath my ribs. I'd felt it before. In the dungeon. Whe
came unbidden. Without hi
ldn't afford. He was a tyrant. A monster. Whatever he'd done, it wasn't for m
own?" he said, his voice a low,
y-a small defiance, a spark of the wolf I was becoming. I said nothin
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