ed my me

It didn't. Adrian didn't deny it, and his silence was worse than any answer he could have given, stret

did t

le

on

ouldn't tell anymore whose side she was

ng my me

d no c

nning out of somewhere to go and leaving only the ache underneath it. "You chose to

xpected that. "Your memories held more than your ch

es kneeling under a silver moon, the images faded but still vivid enough to make my skin prickle, until we reached a chamber wit

ers to Moonborn blood. Until you awakened, it was nothing but a stone. That's why they

d have co

ng you." She looked at Adrian. "He watched over you instead. From

eter now, because the anger was st

other's identity. Me. Your wolf remembered what your mind couldn't h

ent rigid, her whole body snapping toward the

iful it made my chest ache even in the middle of chaos - and then my own body answered whatever hers had woken in me, pain rushing through every joint until I stood in fur for

my mother sa

hrough the wreckage of the doorway like he'

g, my human skin cold in the dr

Only you c

ouching her,"

uld. They collided so hard the chamber shook, dust raining from the ceiling, and somewhere in the mid

p walking toward it anyway, my feet moving w

ly, a crown, forming out of nothing the way frost forms on gl

e room off their feet, tapestries tearing loose from the walls, and the crown settled above my hea

en has a

* warriors - flooded through the broken door, and at their center walked the ol

he said. "You led

fury. "You followed us. You us

room went to war again, warriors clashing ac

watched, helpless, until a blade found the gap in his guard

ria

before he hit the stone, his weight heavier tha

noth

ys been a te

listening." His fingers found mine, and for one impossible second the battle around us went

en know if I

enough for

cracked stone. The old man screamed something about not understanding what I'd awakened, and I stood,

at me, and Adrian's face went still in a way I recognized now - th

your mother's capture," he sa

ieutenant," my mo

he was the

wasn

nial ring, revealing a black crown etched into the skin beneath it, old scar t

nt," she

her is dead,

d lifted his hand, an expression of quiet satisfaction settling over his f

dow, and he dropped to one knee with a sound that tore straight thr

d you do

he Regent said pleasantly, as though discussing the weather. "If you use t

re ly

st

ady going cold, his grip weaker than it

le even in the smoke, a face I hadn't expected to see anywhere near that fortress, a fa

i