Chapter 32
Neeve beside me, Thorne and Kian just behind, I paused before the arched doorway of the throne room of the Nightshade Court. I’d walk into that room as a human girl of no particular importance, and I’d come out as the Nightshade Lady.
It was an unfathomable thought, and for a moment my feet felt leaden, incapable of taking another step. My left arm was beginning to itch, and the stub of my pinky still throbbed in time with my heartbeat. All I wanted was to turn and flee from the fate that crouched ahead, waiting to devour me—not walk directly into its jaws.
Then Neeve touched my shoulder in support, and my paralysis was broken.
As we stepped into the room, a long chime sounded. The courtiers, arrayed in their glittering jewels and sumptuous silks, turned to look at me, their
