A playful light danced in Brenda's eyes as she tilted her head. "And should that not suffice, we can always summon your sister Liza's irrepressible moxie to rattle their foul cages until their profane ambitions unravel entirely."
Despite the looming shadow of their circumstances, Malcolm's stern features softened into an unbidden smile.
"That line you spoke just now," he said, his deep voice carrying notes of genuine curiosity beneath its usual gravel. "'In this realm, light always triumphs over darkness'...who was it that first imparted such wisdom to you?"
For a small eternity, it seemed Brenda simply stared at him, hazel eyes welling with a profound sorrow that stole the alpha's breath. At last, she whispered with a wobbling chin, "My mother...though she walks in brighter realms no
