The courtyard still smelled of blood and fire when Lou carried me inside.
He hadn’t said a word since the wolf’s body had stilled. His jaw was locked, his eyes molten gold, his wings stiff as blades jutting from his back. Heat shimmered around him, warping the air, cracking the stone beneath his boots. Every servant we passed fled into doorways, afraid to meet his gaze.
I said nothing until we reached our chambers. The doors slammed shut behind us, rattling in their frames.
He set me down by the hearth, but his hands didn’t leave me. They shook. Not from weakness—Lou didn’t break that way—but from fury too great for even him to hold.
“Javier knows,” he snarled at last, pacing like a caged beast. “He knows, and every traitor who ever breathed near this palace fed him the scent. I’ll bur
