Elara didn’t see the needle coming.
One moment, she was screaming Lucian’s name as the massive black wolf collapsed. The next, a gloved hand clamped over her mouth, and a sharp pinch stung her neck. The world dissolved into gray static.
When she woke, the silence was absolute.
No wind. No fire crackling. Just the heavy, metallic taste of fear in her mouth.
Elara pushed herself up, her head swimming. She was on a cold floor. Stone. She blinked, her eyes adjusting to the dim, red emergency lighting.
She was in the East Wing.
The room she had been terrified to enter was now her prison. The heavy steel door was shut and bolted from the outside. But she wasn't alone.
"Stay back," a voice rasped from the shadows.
It sounded like gravel grinding against glass.
Elara scrambled backward un
